Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran Thomas C. Smith III. Thomas served from 1982-2005.

Thomas was born in Phoenix City, Ala. in 1953. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Auburn University and a Master’s in Healthcare Administration from Baylor University. In 1982, Thomas joined the United States Army. During his service, Thomas worked in Army Healthcare Administration. Some of his positions included Assistant Chief Managed Care at Fort Sam Houston, Assistant Administration of Darnall Medical Center at Fort Hood, and Acting Director of Central Texas Veterans Health Care System in Temple, Texas.

While serving, Thomas was inducted into the Order of Military Medical Merit, an honorary organization which recognizes leadership and significant contributions to the Army Medical Department. In addition, Thomas earned the Expert Field Medical Badge and the Army Legion of Merit award. By the end of his service, Thomas was a lieutenant colonel and the Deputy Commander for Administration of Martin Army Community Hospital at Fort Benning, Ga. He retired in 2005.

Following his retirement, Thomas worked as assistant director and later director of the Central Texas Veterans Affairs Hospital. After serving there for eight years, he returned to his home state of Alabama where he served as director of the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Thomas passed away on Dec. 8th, 2018, at the age of 65.

We honor his service.


Nominate a Veteran for #VeteranOfTheDay

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 #VeteranOfTheDay social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.

It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. All it takes is an email to newmedia@va.gov with as much information as you can put together, along with some good photos. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.


Graphic By Whitney Moore: Whitney is an undergraduate senior at Southern New Hampshire University studying Social Media Marketing.

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