Lawrence
B. Bone, MD, chair of the Department of
Orthopaedics and a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, is
currently serving in Afghanistan.
The 64-year-old orthopaedic surgeon was deployed at the end of
July as a member of the 865 Combat Support Hospital at the Niagara
Falls Air Reserve Station.
Bone is voluntarily serving in the war zone, treating injured
service members after three decades of caring for civilian trauma
victims.
Normally, the cutoff age for enlisting as a surgeon is 56.
However, Bone received an age waiver because he is meeting a
critical need.
He took courses in military trauma training and personal
physical training to ready himself for deployment.
In part, Bone decided to enlist because he knows that his skills
and experience could make a difference.
His son, Christian, suffered a severe combat wound in Iraq six
years ago when an explosive device detonated. He returned home and,
under the watchful eye of his father, underwent physical therapy on
his right shoulder.
Bone learned from his son’s experience that most wounds
sustained by troops require orthopaedic surgical
services.
He now has the opportunity to care for other wounded soldiers,
just as a military orthopaedic surgeon tended to his son.
Philip
Stegemann, MD, clinical associate professor of orthopaedics,
describes Bone as “a man of the highest integrity who wants
to give back to his country.”
Kory Reed, MD, a fifth-year orthopaedic surgery resident, finds
it inspiring that Bone remains passionately involved with patient
care and service to his country.
“Dr. Bone has remained committed to the ideals that we
strive to master as surgeons-in-training,” he says.
While Bone is taking his turn serving his country, his son, who
recovered from his injuries, left the military and became a
registered nurse. He now works with injured veterans at Buffalo
Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
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