Photo Caption: The Ritz Museum, part of the Ritz Theatre in the LaVilla neighborhood of downtown Jacksonville, documents the culture and history of people of African descent in northeast Florida. Photo courtesy of Visit Jacksonville. All BVA members are strongly encouraged to register immediately for the BVA National Convention with both BVA and the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront Hotel. Completing the registration process will ensure entry into all BVA-specific activities and meetings held July 7-10, […]

To the moms of BVA and moms everywhere, Happy Mother’s Day! This Sunday, Americans will continue a tradition that began in 1908 when Anna Jarvis sent 500 white carnations on May 10 to Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in her hometown of Grafton, West Virginia. Six years later in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issued a Presidential proclamation declaring the second Sunday of May to reverence and express love for the mothers of our country. Soon thereafter, […]

BVA members and friends perhaps heard about a cybersecurity incident in February involving Change Healthcare (CHC), a vendor of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This incident, considered an attack and labeled as such by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), impacted not only VA but many healthcare institutions and operations throughout the United States. The incident has resulted in HHS involvement in helping to coordinate efforts to avoid disruptions to health care […]

My name is Nora and I currently guide BVA member Sheldon McKinney in Rowlett, Texas. I have so many unique “tails” to share with you this month. I thought I would start at the beginning. I was born in December of 2019. From 7-12 weeks-old I was raised by three young women in off-campus housing. Midway through March 2020, my puppy raiser and I returned home when the pandemic struck. We stayed until June 2020 […]

President Harry S. Truman presents the Official Insignia of the Blinded Veterans Association, Inc., to the executives of the organization. Included in the photograph from left to right are: Lloyd M. Greenwood, Executive Director, New York; Harrison King, Washington, D.C.; James W. Hope, Gastonia, N.C.; Raymond T. Frey, Past President, Le Banon, Pennsylvania; Byrum S. Shumway, of Board of Directors, Baltimore, Maryland; President Harry S. Truman; Irvin P. Schloss, Baltimore, Maryland; Robert Pistel, Chairman, Baltimore, […]

Flanked by Lawrence Harrison and Michaun Harrison, Air Force veteran Claudia Baldwin breaks for lunch following her solo rendition of “The U.S. Air Force,” adopted as the military branch’s official song in the late 1940s. Regional groups throughout the country are now on the move to hold spring meetings to determine which members of the group will attend the BVA 79th National Convention and to elect convention delegates and alternate delegates. The urgency is, at […]

BVA’s own Marlene Davis-Lilly, Deputy National Service Director, member of the Captain Buddy Spivey Razorback Regional Group and Chapter Coordinator of Central Arkansas Team River Runner, schedules regular kayak events for area blinded veterans beginning in April of every year. This year was different, however, due to the theft of 12 kayaks and other essential gear. “We had an event programmed for the month of April to teach our blinded veterans of Memphis how to […]

Please connect with the Library of Congress Veterans History Project this Monday, May 6, from 3:00-4:45pm for a live virtual event commemorating Jewish American Heritage Month and Holocaust Remembrance Day. The purpose of the event is to celebrate the contributions of Jewish veterans to the nation and to recall reverently the 6 million victims of the Holocaust.  Every year in May, hundreds of organizations and Americans of all backgrounds join together to discover, explore, and […]