[Blindtlk] FW: Army's First Blind Active-Duty Officer

[Hyde, David W. (ESC)]

I saw the depression and the other problems in the story too. We all know people who went blind and found that stage. We all know people who never got past it. I sent this for a couple of reasons. First, it does represent a change in what the military generally does. Some of us would have liked to serve, and have always been told that it just couldn't be done. This is in spite of the fact that we know of jobs that could be done with ease by a blind man or women. A clerk is a clerk, a programmer a programmer, and a contract specialist a contract specialist, whether he or she can see or not.

I also sent it because I hope it gives some hope to those who are recovering military personnel who may not want to leave the service. If this guy can do it, they may be able to do it too. While I would have written the story differently, I believe that it has value in itself. Remember, He is the one who wanted to do something. If his belief in god, or  anything else helps, that's a good thing.

 

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Robert J Smith
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010 11:27 AM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] FW: Army's First Blind Active-Duty Officer

Hi all.  I feel that the negative elements of Captain Smiley's psychological adjustment should be brought to light, because that's what he went through.  I have always been blind so I didn't have any of that. I know that there are those who will key off on all the negative elements (or a more appropriate word would be difficult) but they need to be told because they are part of his story and he strengthened and re-developed his character because of them.

Bob Smith

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From:
"Jewel S." <herekittykat2 at gmail.com>
To:
Blind Talk Mailing List <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Date:
09/23/2010 12:04 PM
Subject:
Re: [Blindtlk] FW: Army's First Blind Active-Duty Officer



A small step forward for the military, but a big step back for the image of blind people in my opinion. They talk about how devastating losing his sight was, how he wanted to die, that his life was black literally and figuratively, and how he broke down crying because his life was so horribly changed.

Captain Smiley tries to push that his life is normal. He makes light of his wanting to have fun (surfing, mountain climbing, parachuting), but the Fox announcer seems so shocked and awed that a blind person could do such things.

Good for Captain Smiley. I'm sure he'll go far and represent people with visual impairment well, but this video certaionly doesn't.

My two cents,

On 9/23/10, Hyde, David W. (ESC) <david.hyde at wcbvi.k12.wi.us> wrote:
>  I think this represents a small step forward by the military. They at
least
> didn't give him a discharge and a thank you..
>
>
> http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/21915181
>
>
>
>
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--
~Jewel
Check out my blog about accessibility for the blind!
Treasure Chest for the Blind: http://blindtreasurechest.blogspot.com

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