– Representatives of the Louisiana/Mississippi Blinded Veterans Association Regional Group presented a tactile Braille American flag plaque to the St. Martin Parish Government at this past Tuesday’s Parish Council Public Works Committee meeting. Gary Schoelerman of the veterans group spoke to the committee about the donation.
The association was founded by 100 combat blinded veterans at a rehabilitation hospital in Connecticut on March 28, 1945. BVA worked with the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide comprehensive medical and rehabilitative services and benefits for blinded veterans and played a role in persuading the VA to assume responsibility for blinded veterans’ treatment and rehabilitation.
The first Blind Rehabilitation Center to assist blinded veterans in adapting to civilian life was established in 1948 and the number of BRC facilities has grown to 13 since then. BVA also persuaded Congress and the VA to expand eligibility to veterans whose blindness was not the result of their military service…