In an award ceremony on Capitol Hill, the HillVets 100 Tribute Gala brought many members from the Veteran community, civilian community, public sector and private sector to honor the contributions that have been made to Veterans in 2016. The HillVets 100 list includes Veterans of all areas, from the Vietnam War to the most recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Selectees represent a broad spectrum of Veterans and supporters, from artists to elected officials to business executives to members of the media.
VA Secretary David Shulkin was honored as advocate on behalf of more than 21 million American Veterans. Secretary Shulkin has also been named among the 50 most influential physician executives in the country, and among the 100 most influential people in American Healthcare.
“When I look around the room, each of you have a personal story and a passion and you really are the ‘who’s who’ of those that support the Veteran community, and so many of you are doing this behind the scenes,” said Shulkin during his speech. “I want to thank you not only because you inspire me in doing what I need to do every day, but on behalf of all the employees in the Department of Veteran Affairs.”
He also thanked the Veteran community for their support, and how the community acts as a support system for the thousands of VA employees that serve Veterans.
“When I came to government, which was now about 20 months ago, I did not expect to see how hard our employees work and how passionate they are about the work they do. And it’s because that there’s this community, of which you make up, around them that notice that their work matters and the work that you do matters,” said Shulkin.
The HillVets 100 2016 list of honorees also included VA employee and Marine Corps Veteran Matt Stiner. Stiner currently works in VA’s congressional affairs office and was recognized for his diligent work in 2016 coordinating engagement with and for the White House. At VA, Stiner also served as a special assistant to the secretary where he was responsible for outreach to Veteran and military organizations.
Feature photo © 2017 Kaz Sasahara. www.lancerphotography.com
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The title HillVets in the above article left me and perhaps a few more Vietnam Veterans a little confused. I, along with Marines of KILO Co. 3rd Battalion 9th Marines, are Veterans of battles of such places of Hill 881, Hill 861and Hill 70. We lost 51 Heroes in those 3 battles.
Semper Fi,
Larry Stevanus