Hematologist Dr. Bernard Dreiling, a long-time Jackson VA employee, was honored during the ceremony for his more than five decades of dedicated service to the federal government.

“I’ve taught a lot, and I’ve learned a lot,” Dreiling said about his more than half century of working as a hematologist.

Dreiling began his VA career in September 1967. Dreiling, a Kansas native, served several years in Boston, Massachusetts and St. Louis, Missouri before making his way to Mississippi in 1969.

“I originally only planned to be in Mississippi for only a year because I had never been south of St. Louis before. The University of Mississippi Medical Center was opening a new hematology department and my good friend asked me to join him and the rest is history,” said Dreiling.

Dreiling, identified in the 2001 medical school yearbook, The Medic, as “Kansas’ Gift to Mississippi” plans to continue to serve our nation’s heroes. When asked if he had big plans to celebrate his 55 years of service and 85th birthday, he said, “I’m going to get one of my favorite meals–scallops and shrimp.”