Navy and Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran Tracy Collier,

Navy and Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran Tracy Collier, a member of the Roseburg VA Health Care System’s Urgent Care Clinic, recently joined the VA as part of the Intermediate Care Technician program here in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Collier, a former Fleet Marine Force Hospital Corpsman and native of Roseburg, Oregon, commutes from her home in Lebanon to Roseburg each week and credits her family and church community for helping on the home front as she serves the Veterans enrolled with RVAHCS. “I love knowing that I am able to help fellow servicemembers again,” said Collier, who served on active duty from 1997 to 2001. “Once I was out of the Navy, I missed my family so very much,” said Collier, a former teacher at North Eugene High School. “Civilians just don't get it. Being back at the VA, I may be young enough to be most of my patient's granddaughter, but we all served.” The worldwide pandemic caused by SARS-CoV2, the disease that causes COVID-19, has brought cheers and tributes for health care workers across the globe. Traditional first responders and ordinary citizens – police, firemen, military and many others – line the streets outside medical facilities and atop balconies from New York City to New Delhi to show appreciation for the difficult work front line providers do each day. (Official RVAHCS Photo by T. T. Parish/Released)