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BVA Provides a Veteran Voice at National Academies Health Care Workshop

The Blinded Veterans Association (BVA) took a leading role this past summer at the Workshop on Veterans’ Access to Health Care presented by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The two-day virtual workshop afforded BVA Executive Director Donald D. Overton, Jr. the opportunity to represent the interests of veterans and Veterans Service Organizations during the program. The event examined patient-centered methods to optimize access to high-quality health care for veterans. It featured invited […]

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Aira Has Begun Its 2020 Get Out the Vote Promotion!

From October 2 until election day November 3, Aira is donating 120 minutes per U.S.-based Explorer for access calls relating to voter registration, preparing to vote, and the act of voting itself. Blinded veterans currently using Aira services as Explorers can utilize this promotion as follows: Preparing To Vote:• Researching 2020 candidates, propositions, and ballot initiatives• Registering to vote• Reviewing sample ballots Voting: • Navigation to and through physical polling locations• Coordinating transportation to a […]

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Expansion of VA Caregiving Program to Benefit Blinded Veterans and Their Families

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced the implementation of Phase 1 of its expansion and enhancement of the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC). The program offers clinical support for caregivers of eligible veterans who are seriously injured, including educational support, a monthly stipend, health care coverage, and certain beneficiary travel to qualifying family members. Through this expansion, VA will give additional family caregivers, including those of blinded veterans, access to […]

VA Director of Optometric Service to Address BVA Virtual Session

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 […]

Yonaka Trent Honored as District 3 Member for the Month of September

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 Honored as Women’s Veteran for the Month of September

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 […]

Veterans Urged to Take Precautions Against Flu

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 […]

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August Virtual Sessions Enlighten BVA Members and Friends

BVA’s 75th National Convention became a causality of COVID-19 when the decision to cancel the gathering was made on May 8. In lieu of the annual convention, BVA hosted a series of successful virtual Zoom webinars on Zoom on August 10, 12, and 18-20 that were also live streamed on Facebook and drew audiences in the hundreds. We kicked off the series with an Introduction to Zoom on August 10 in order to help our […]

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Resilience in Living the Army Values: Eric Marts

The acronym is LDRSHIP and the uppercase letters stand for Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Courage. These are the values of the United States Army to which Master Sergeant Eric Marts of Moorhead, Minnesota first committed himself when he enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1985. They are values to which he has remained devoted and true, notwithstanding the adversities he encountered as he fought for the freedom of millions and […]

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Marine Corps Values as Important Guideposts – by Darryl Goldsmith

As veterans of the U.S. Military, we are proud to have trained to defend our nation and then to have served honorably in whatever capacity and wherever we were assigned. Although we hold in special esteem the branch of the military in which we served, in my case the Marine Corps, the values promoted by each branch overlap and have many of the same themes. These are the values we have taken with us to […]