Marco Aurelio Ladino Avellaneda was born in Columbia. From a young age, he desired to help people and make the world a better place. He saw America as an opportunity to not only make his life better but also to improve the lives of others. After immigrating in 2009, he enlisted in the Army Reserve.
Avellaneda completed officer training in Texas. He deployed to Kosovo in 2012 and Kuwait in 2014, as an internal medicine officer.
Upon redeploying, Avellaneda returned to civilian practice as a specialized doctor. He specialized in nephrology, which primarily focuses on kidney function. He also served in the internal medicine clinic at Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon, Georgia, in 2018. Today, he continues to serve his country as the chief of nephrology at the VA Medical Center in Miami, where he also trains Veterans to become doctors. And he’s an associate professor in nephrology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
We honor his service.
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Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? VA’s “Honoring Veterans” social media spotlight is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.
It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission
Writer: Alexander Bouche
Editor: Rachel Falconer, Julia Pack
Researcher: Hannah Bundschuh
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I really don’t appre3ciate your Veteran of the Day column. It leaves out millions while honoring a few. Toss it and put something worthwhile in it’s place.