[Blindvet-talk] National Association of Blind Veterans Meeting at National Convention

Fri May 28 16:50:25 UTC 2010

Dear Mister Advocate,

For the past few years our Institute has looked at developing ways to 
better serve and interact with members of the National Association of Blind 
Veterans.  A couple years ago we were invited to attend but were later 
contacted and advised it would not be necessary after all.

I came to be involved with the NABV by virtue of my father, now deceased, 
who was a blind WWII veteran.  Since 2005 I have been traveling around the 
United States attending veterans groups meeting and events, blind and 
sighted, and presenting the Braille American Flag to these men and women.

For those who are not familiar with the Braille American Flag, it is a 
tactile representation of the American flag, that denotes the location of 
the stars and stripes, as well as their individual color.  The Braille flag 
also bears the Pledge of Allegiance.  As of 2008, through the authorization 
of the United States Congress a bronze monument of the Braille American 
Flag has been installed at Arlington National Cemetery, as a tribute to 
blind veterans of all wars, and other blind Americans.  Similar bronze 
monuments, several sit in stone, have been erected at various locations in 
Kansas, and now one in Nebraska, compliments of the VFW.

I was pleased to read the other day the post regarding Captains Smiley, 
Ivan Castro, and the other blind veterans that sacrificed their sight in 
the protection of our nation's freedoms, and are still active in uniform.  
I did not have the pleasure of meeting Captain Smiley in person, but, I did 
speak with him by phone some time back, during the time we presented him 
with a Braille American Flag.  Captain Castro I have personally met more 
than once, and have on both occasions presented him with a Braille American 
Flag.

My reason for mentioning all of this is because realizing the impossibility 
of our Institute presenting a Braille American Flag to all our nation's 
blind veterans and civilians we reached out for help from the American 
Legion.  We had to follow protocol and draft a resolution which we did with 
the help of a local Post, and initially submitted it for vote at the 
American Legion's District Convention.  Once that passed, and it did, we 
submitted it for vote at the Legions' State Convention.  Last week at the 
convention it also passed.  Next and final stop is the National 
Convention.

In the event the resolution passes at the National level the American 
Legion can authorize one of two approaches to responding, one, they can do 
so administratively by "allowing any Post that wishes to participate in 
obtaining a Braille flag or flags to do so at their own accord".  Or, two, 
they can "mandate" that all Post accept the Braille American Flag as a 
project whereby each Post would obtain a certain number of Braille American 
Flags and include them in their American Flag Presentations at schools and 
other events, as well as taking them to VA hospitals, presenting them to 
our nation's service men and women who have given their sight in combat, or 
have lost their sight by other means, just as many law enforcement offices, 
firemen, and others have, as well as presenting them to elected officials 
who work on behalf of legislation for our disabled veterans, such as 
Sharrod Brown of Ohio, who was recently presented with a framed Braille 
American Flag by the Blinded Veterans Association.  Too the Braille 
American Flags can be provided to businesses that support the rights and 
needs of persons who are blind or have some degree of vision loss.  In 
short, they can include the Braille American Flag in any project they wish 
to develop.

Our Institute welcomes the support of the National Association of Blind 
Veterans with letting the American Legion Post in your areas as well as up 
at National Headquarters know that you too think this is a very worth while 
project, and you commend them on taking the initiative in this endeavor.

If any one reading this would like to present a framed Braille American 
Flag to the American Legion State Commander in your state please let us 
know, and we will personally frame it and prepare it for you, or send it in 
your name, at no cost to you.  It is our intent to send one to every State 
Commander throughout the United States.   We are also looking to send one 
to every U.S. Congressman and Congresswomen and U.S. Representative, asking 
them too to let the American Legion know what their sentiments are about 
the Legion taking a serious look at this project.

If you or someone you know would like to assist us or give us any 
suggestions we would be most indebted to you for your help.  In the event 
the National Headquarters votes favorably, this could mean that many blind 
veterans and blind civilians will have their own Braille American Flag at 
no cost.  The normal cost is $5.00 per Flag.  These flags are 7.5 by 9.5 
inches, in full color, and bear the Pledge of Allegiance in either grade 
one or grade two Braille.  The Braille American Flag follows all rules set 
out by the Braille Authority of North America.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you for your service 
to our country.  Your service and sacrifice made it possible be me to send 
this E-mail.

Very sincerely , 

Randolph Cabral, President
Kansas Braille Transcription Institute
P.O. Box 48091
Wichita, Kansas 67201-8091
316-265-9692  (Office)  9:00 AM - 5:00CST
316-265-0184  (Fax)
randolphc at kbti.org
 www.kbti.org

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." -- Helen Keller  

----------------------------------------

From: "MisterAdvocate at aol.com (by way of David Andrews" 
<dandrews at visi.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2010 8:53 PM
To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Blindvet-talk] National Association of Blind Veterans Meeting at 
National Convention 

Attention All Blind Veterans and Interested Parties:
The National Association of Blind Veterans will hold it's annual 
meeting in Dallas, Texas at the Anatole Hilton Hotel during the 
National Convention of the NFB on July 4th at 7PM or 1900 
hours. This will be our time to reflect on last year , prepare for 
the coming year, discuss the national raffle going on, and what we 
will be doing for our annual 4th of July Celebration. Dues will be 
collected and new members signed up. I look forward to seeing all 
those interested veterans and the existing members there for a great 
meeting. The room has not been assigned as of yet, so watch your 
agenda that Mrs. Jernigan says will be out in June.
Best Regards,
Dwight Sayer
President,
The National Association of blind Veterans
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