Citizen By Choice

This is the autobiography of my life from Yauya, Peru to Hendersonville, Tennessee. I was orphaned by the age of seven. I attended dental school twice, once in Peru and once in the United States of America. I completed a Fellowship in Pediatric Dentistry. I survived a devastating avalanche, going over the side of a mountain in a car and nearly drowning three times. I explored many parts of Peru, including the Amazon River Jungle, where I hunted wild boars and alligators, and fished for piranhas, while working for an American Mining Company as the chief dentist for all of their mining camps in Peru. I left Peru for the United States, with a resident visa, where I attended dental school for the second time, married my wife Betty and joined the U.S. Air Force. I completed Specialty training in Prosthodontic dentistry while serving in the the Air Force. My wife, Betty, and I have been married for over 61 years. We are the parents of four children and have 14 grandchildren.

This is the autobiography of my journey as an orphaned boy from Yauya, a small town in the Andes mountains of Peru, to the U.S.A. I spoke Italian, Quechua and Spanish by the age of three. Before my mother passed away when I was seven, once a year we traveled eight days on horseback from the top of the Andes to a small town in the jungle area of Peru, to trade various products grown in the mountains for various products grown in the jungle. I spent my adolescence in different places with different, loving, family members, and was responsible for my own studies. I survived a devastating avalanche, going over the side of a mountain in a car and nearly drowning three times. I explored many parts of Peru, including the Amazon River Jungle, where I hunted wild boars and alligators, and fished for piranhas, while working for an American Mining Company. I left Peru for the United States, with a resident visa, where I attended dental school for the second time, married my wife Betty and joined the U.S. Air Force. I am the father of four children and have 14 grandchildren.

Dr. Rolando Bernui was born in the small town of Yauya in the Peruvian Andes, and grew up in small and large cities across Peru. After graduating from San Marcos University Dental School, he traveled to New York City as a Fellow at the Guggenheim School of Pediatric Dentistry. After graduating from there, he returned to Peru to be the Chief Dentist for an American Mining Company for 4 years. He then traveled back to the U.S., with a permanent visa, where he attended Indiana University School of Dentistry and graduated with an American D.D.S. degree. He then joined the U.S. Air Force, where he rose to the rank of Full Colonel before retiring after 25 years of service. He opened an office in Maryland where he practiced dentistry of 13 years before retiring again. Then he moved to Nashville, TN where he taught at Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry for 17 years. He now lives near Nashville with his wife of 61 years, Betty, who has helped him in the editing of this book of his life story.