Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Director, Optometric Service, John C. Townsend, OD, FAAO, will speak at a Blinded Veterans Association (BVA) virtual session via Zoom September 28 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. BVA members, their families, VA employees, and other stakeholders in the field of blind rehabilitation are invited to attend Dr. Townsend’s briefing. During the hour-long session, he will address the status of VA eye care and the vital role optometrists play in

Ms. Yonaka Trent is a United States Army veteran who served eight years as a Military Policewoman. Yonaka’s duty stations consisted of the following: Fort McPherson, Atlanta Georgia; Hunter Army Airfield, Savanah, Georgia: Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany; and Kaiserslautern, Germany as a Military Customs Inspector. Currently, Ms. Trent resides in Clayton, North Carolina, where she is loved by her two children and five grandchildren. Yonaka joined BVA this year and is an asset to this

Pauletta (PJ) Sisk is a former United States Army Medic. Pauletta is a Life Member of the Blinded Veterans Association and an active member of the Tennessee Regional Group. She is also an alumni member of the Outta Sight Clinic Kayak Team of Montana. Pauletta resides in Kingsport, Tennessee, where she participates with Washington County Disabled Veterans Chapter, volunteering countless hours with her service dog Pilot. Pauletta has lost a great deal of vision but

As the summer winds down, medical professionals are becoming increasingly concerned aboutthe onset of the flu season as COVID-19 diagnoses and complications persist. Although the science as to how the two viruses may co-exist is still not established with anyreasonable certainty, significant COVID-19 interventions such as hand washing, masks, anddistancing are believed to be just as valid for influenza as they are for COVID-19. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is launching an aggressive influenza