At 8:45am Eastern Time, exactly 80 years ago today, some 100 blinded veterans gathered in one room, the size of which has never been documented, perhaps because so few of the attendees could see it. The room’s location was a residential school for boys, converted temporarily by the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration into a training facility for veterans who had returned from World War II with little or no remaining sight. Many of them were […]

S. 1032, the bipartisan Major Richard Star Act, has the full support of BVA and approximately 50 of its sister organizations as Senate Veterans Affairs’ Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Rick Scott (R-FL) team up to introduce the bill in the U.S. Senate. As proposed legislation affecting a number of blind and low vision veterans, S. 1032 already has 43 Senate co-sponsors. A House of […]

BVA member Paschal Baute, Ed.D., of Lexington, Kentucky, 95-year-old retired psychologist, storyteller, author, poet, and frequent contributor to the BVA Bulletin, has added still one more book to his 40+ works centered on conflict resolution and human behavior. His latest, Sanity Way—Stories of People Keeping Their Heads above Water, outlines Paschal’s conclusions from listening to more than 70,000 hours of people’s problems and 16 contributors to the book. Through a collection of powerful stories about […]

At 8:45am on March 28, 1945, approximately 100 recently returning World War II service members and veterans gathered for a much-publicized meeting at Avon Old Farms Army Convalescent Hospital. The minutes of the meeting recorded that the group assembled, all young men at the time, were recovering from combat injuries, the most notable of which was their loss of sight. Time spent at the Connecticut facility also consisted of a program of instruction and practical […]

On February 8, members of the BVA Louisiana/Mississippi (LA/MS) Regional Group gathered at Blind Grace, a nonprofit organization that holds summer camps for visually impaired children in Lafayette, Louisiana. The occasion was the organization’s third annual Gumbo-Jambalaya-Pastalaya Cook-Off. The event was originally scheduled for January 25, but due to the rare winter blizzard in southern Louisiana previously reported in BVA Happenings (10 inches of snow and temperatures down to 4 degrees), it was postponed until […]

BVA National Headquarters is pleased to remind you about the availability of the Association’s digital membership card, which has been available for download to your smartphones for the past two months. This digital card is part of ongoing efforts to enhance your membership experience by providing convenient and immediate access to your membership details. Reasons for Choosing the Digital Membership Card  The digital membership card offers numerous benefits over traditional physical cards. It is always […]

BVA National President Paul Mimms will outline the Association’s current legislative priorities at a joint session of the House and Senate Committees on Veterans Affairs this Tuesday, February 25. The hearing will be streamed live via the website of the House Committee beginning at 10:00am Eastern Time, originating from Room 390 of the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in the Nation’s Capital. Please note that the hearing will consist of two separate panels, […]

BVA National Secretary Tracy Ferro took the lead yesterday in discussing the VA Health and Benefits App, including logging onto the appropriate platform, in the most recent of the Association’s Town Hall and Educational Series. Tracy has been working with VA Section 508 compliance officials in the development of improved accessibility for veterans with sight loss, facilitating an opportunity to share his knowledge and experience with Town Hall participants. Also joining the meeting was one […]

Listen beginning tomorrow as Visions of BVA host Steve Baskis sits down with guests Bill Graves, President of the New Jersey Regional Group; John O’Connell, Director of District 1; Dr. Jay McLeod, President of the Carolina Regional Group; and Irena Howard, Superstar Award Recipient at the 79th National Convention. Each of the guests is an Association member trained and experienced as a BVA Ambassador. Bill and John share their inspiring journey of teamwork and leadership […]

As we approach the end of 2024, I am honored to wish our BVA members, their family members, and our loyal friends a joyful holiday season. My hope is for you to experience an outpouring of the best this special time of year has to offer. I also wish to share some of my own reflections on the progress of the Blinded Veterans Association during the calendar year 2024. Many things have occurred that, in […]