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“All rise!”

The call to action from the bailiff was the same in Kenosha County Circuit Court Branch 5 Tuesday morning, but the man speaking the command was more seasoned than usual.

Dr. Lew Harned, 99, served as the honorary bailiff for the morning in Judge David Wilk’s courtroom, ticking off another item on the bucket list he’s working hard to fill before his 100th birthday on Aug. 17.

A retired orthopedic surgeon and a veteran of World War II, the Korean War and Desert Storm, Harned, of Madison, is on a quest to spend Year 99 of his life doing 99 things he’s never done before.

His adventures, curated with his daughter, Linda, are chronicled on a Facebook page dubbed “Lew Ninety Nine.” They range widely, from curling and bartending and salmon fishing, to flying in a B-24 bomber, and — an instance he says he plans not to repeat — indoor skydiving.

In March, Harned traveled to Kenosha to tick off another item on his list: breakfast at the famed Franks Diner. Judge Wilk’s wife, Lynn, saw this on social media and invited Harned to serve as a bailiff in her husband’s courtroom. And, with that, Adventure No. 94 came to be.

“I’ve never been a bailiff before,” Harned told reporters and friends in Wilk’s chambers after his courtroom cameo came to a close. “And I don’t think I’ll ever be a bailiff again,” he laughed.

That’s not to say it was a bad experience. Sitting at the front of Wilk’s courtroom as a calendar full of defendants progressed through hearings on traffic offenses and other relatively minor matters, Harned smiled and shared laughs with the judge, the court reporters, and others.

When a defendant’s cellphone rang in the middle of a hearing, the man quickly apologized to Wilk.

“That’s all right,” the judge quipped. “Lew was going to take you down, but we’ll let it go this time.”

Harned’s service to the country is as interesting and prolific as the man himself.

As Wilk explained in introducing the guest bailiff at the start of the day’s court session, Harned attempted to enlist in the service when he graduated from high school in Madison in 1942 but was deemed medically unqualified due to his eyesight.

Instead, Harned volunteered for the American Field Service and was attached to the British Eighth Army as an ambulance driver. Participating in the war in Northern Africa, the Allied Invasion of Sicily and the Battle of Monte Cassino, he was awarded three British medals for his service and returned to Madison to attend college.

While attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Harned completed ROTC training but was still deemed medically unqualified for service.

“And so, he said, ‘I’m going to medical school,’ and earned his doctor of medicine degree in 1951,” Wilk said. “The start of the Korean War brought another draft, and this time, since Lew had become a doctor, he was deemed eligible and was commissioned as a warrant officer in the Army.”

Due to an abundance of doctors in the Army, Harned was soon transferred to the Air Force, where he served as a surgeon at the United States Field Hospital in Ogden, Utah, from 1953 to 1955, receiving an honorable discharge from the Medical Corps as a captain.

An extensive career as an orthopedic and sports medicine surgeon followed, primarily in Waterloo, Iowa, until he retired in 1985. During this time, he served as a team physician for the University of Northern Iowa.

Following this first retirement, Harned returned to Madison, where he volunteered to serve as an orthopedic surgeon for the Wisconsin Army National Guard. Quickly promoted to colonel, Harned assumed command of the 13th Evacuation Hospital in 1988, through which he commanded nearly 400 soldiers deployed to Kuwait amid Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Prior to his final retirement from the military, in 1992, Harned was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General.

Harned’s military honors, Wilk noted, include: The Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (three of them), the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Service Star, the Southwest Asia Service Medal with three Bronze Service Stars, the Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon. In addition, he also received three Foreign Service Medals, the Italy Star, the British Wars Medal, and the British Campaign Star.

“We are fortunate to have him continuing his service with us today,” Wilk said.

Harned is among a dwindling population of World War II veterans, and he knows it. He laments what he sees as a lack of patriotism, compared with years past.

“What I’m trying to do, have done, is talk to the kids — especially the younger kids that are in grade school,” said Harned, who recalls meeting Civil War veterans when he was a teen. “It’s been tremendous listening to them.”

His secret to his longevity? That’s simple.

“A little dab of single malt scotch,” he said. “A little dab before dinner.”

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Story by Joe Potente, Kenosha County Communications Manager