This Veterans' Day I'd like to propose some additions to the American lexicon.

We tend to talk about courage, dedication and selflessness in metaphorical terms: He has the heart of an angel. She displayed the courage of a soldier. They worked like dogs. I'd leave the soldier metaphor as is — truly, nothing compares to the valor of our men and women in uniform — but for heart and hard work, let's consider the model of the VA employee.

Full disclosure: I'm a VA employee. After 15 years in various VA posts I'm now privileged to serve as the Department's assistant secretary for human resources, VA's chief people person. Under the visionary leadership of Secretary Bob McDonald and Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson, I'm charged with improving the experience of VA employees across the system to ensure that those employees provide veterans with satisfying health care and other services.

We've deployed a number of strategies to get us there: Focusing on principles rather than rules, expanding partnerships with outside entities who do the same kind of work we do, engaging employees in improving their own work processes and taking a human-centered approach, and putting the veteran first in all we do. And you know what? It's working. Every day, VA employees — many of whom are veterans themselves — are giving their all and caring like angels to improve the lives of veterans and their families.

One case in point: Kevin Sellers is a vocational rehabilitation specialist at the Central Alabama VA Health Care System. He works with local employers to find homeless veterans jobs so they can sustain permanent housing. Kevin is good at what he does — good enough to know he can't do it all on his own. In partnership with the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services and other community organizations, he established the Central Alabama Veterans Employment Council to assist veterans with overcoming barriers and challenges. Among other things, the council supported a job fair that drew over 120 veterans and 50 employers and a bike donation drive that gave 40 veterans donated bikes to use commuting to their jobs. Kevin clearly has the heart of an angel and the selflessness of a VA employee.

Another case in point: A veteran contacted VA concerned about growing financial hardships, including the threatened repossession of the family home and car, resulting from errors in VA's processing of benefits claims for him and his fellow-veteran wife. A team of specialists at the St. Petersburg VA Regional Office — David Valentine, Easton Haught, Michael Rousseau, Karen Carderella, Louis Santiago, Bridgette Campbell and Sarah Allen — leapt into action to review the family's claims. The team was able to resolve the wife's claim in one day, increasing her disability rating from 40 percent to 70 percent. While the husband's claim was more complicated, the team worked diligently to resolve it, as well. Committed to assisting these veterans in their time of need, the St. Pete team worked like dogs — or, more accurately, like VA employees — to get the job done.

One last case in point: Victor Vasquez was tending to headstones at the Ft. Bliss National Cemetery when he noticed an older veteran sitting in a truck. The veteran, who was visiting his wife's grave, told Victor that he wished there were a tree to shade the section where his wife was buried. Victor invited the veteran to lead him to his wife's burial site and show him where he would like the tree to be planted, then contacted foreman James Porter and gardener Chris Smith to assess the area. They determined that planting a tree there would require irrigation lines to be moved, but all agreed that the cemetery would benefit from a tree in that section. They called in maintenance worker Manny Vasquez to move the irrigation lines and plant the tree. A few days later, James called the veteran to tell him the tree was in place. The veteran was quite emotional to learn that the cemetery staff had cared enough to carry out his wishes. Clearly, these Ft. Bliss workers have the hearts of angels and the empathy of VA employees.

This Veterans' Day, my hat's off to the hard-working, deeply-caring employees of the VA. Every day, in a hundred ways, they are giving their all to make veterans' lives better.

Meghan Flanz serves as assistant secretary for human resources at the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

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