I burned our flag

July 25, 2022

I burned our flag

Uncategorized

I have never been a rah-rah patriotic zealot. I went through a period in high school and college where I was, if not ashamed, not particularly proud of my country. I even considered eventually moving to Brazil, the country of my mother’s birth, to live because I saw it in some ways better than the U.S.

My draft lottery number was so high, I never had to apply for a deferment and was able to attend college without fear of being drafted. When I was accepted to medical school in 1974, I had to find a way to pay for this. I joined the Navy, which had a scholarship program. While I was proud to serve, and did honorably for 13 years, my reason for joining was almost entirely financial; I preferred to pay back time in the Navy instead of money to a bank. I was discharged in 1987, proud of my service and free of debt.

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rtbosshardt

Dr. Bosshardt is a plastic surgeon with over three decades of practice. He is an avid reader and writer who contributed a weekly column on medical matters to the Orlando Sentinel for over tweny five years. His interests are wide ranging but have a common thread. That thread is an insatiable curiosity about people and the world around us. This includes the natural world, society and culture, and human potential, both good and bad. He is fascinated by our mind, body, and spiritual connection and what we are capable if we put our energy, mind, and will to any task. He is a lifelong runner who has completed multiple marathons and triathlons, culminating in completion of a full Ironman triathlon at age 61 and he is seguing into ultradistance running. His proudest accomplishment, however, is his family. He is married to the love of his life for 41 years and has three grown children, their spouses, and six grandchildren that he adores. His worldview is Christian and the Christian message of sin and redemption informs everything he is and does. If this blog informs and challenges readers, it will have been worth starting. View all posts by rtbosshardt

Dr. Bosshardt attended the Leonard Miller School of Medicine of the University of Miami, graduating in 1978. He completed a general surgery residency at the United States Naval Hospital in Oakland, California. His residency term was interrupted from 1979-80 when he served as medical officer aboard the USS Wabash and was deployed to the Western Pacific with an aircraft carrier task force. During that year, the Wabash was involved in the rescue of Vietnamese boat people and was part of operations to end the Iranian hostage crisis in 1980. The USS Wabash crew received several decorations for this deployment, including the Meritorious Unit Commendation. Upon completion of his training, Dr. Bosshardt served as a general surgeon at the United States Naval Hospital in Okinawa, Japan from 1984-87. During this time, he obtained his board certification from the American Board of Surgery. While in Okinawa, Dr. Bosshardt applied, and was accepted, for residency training in plastic surgery under world-renowned plastic surgeon, D. Ralph Millard, Jr., M.D., at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center in Miami, Florida. He was honorably discharged from the Navy with the rank of Commander in 1987 and completed his plastic surgery training in Miami from 1987-89. Dr. Bosshardt arrived in Lake County in July of 1989 as the first plastic surgeon in the county. He obtained lifetime certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery in 1991. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Since starting in private practice, Dr. Bosshardt has participated regularly in overseas medical missions to provide reconstructive surgery to children with cleft lip, cleft palate. and other problems. His travels have taken him to the Philippines, Guatemala, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, the West Bank, and Mexico. Dr. Bosshardt performs both cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery in his practice, which has grown to two surgeons working out of a modern facility that houses the only state licensed private surgical suite in Central Florida dedicated exclusively to plastic surgery. He has privileges at Advent Health Waterman and University of Florida Leesburg Hospital.

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