This year has been hard on all of us, but together we are getting through it. While you’re shopping for your holiday gifts this Black Friday and Cyber Monday, give the gift of hope to blinded veterans. By supporting BVA, you’re supporting veterans like Monaca Gilmore. Monaca sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) from an improvised explosive device that detonated near her convoy. The aftereffects of the TBI resulted in the loss of her eyesight.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will host a free hour-long event for veterans, families, caregivers, communities, service providers, Veterans Service Organizations, and partners. Please mark on your calendar a 1:00pm Eastern Standard Time start for the event on the Monday following Thanksgiving (November 30). The town hall will feature VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. Dr. Lynda Davis, VA’s Chief Veterans Experience Officer, will moderate the program. A Q&A segment will address important questions from the

Elizabeth “Liz” Holmes, Georgia Regional Group, is an Army veteran. During her career, she attended both the Basic and Advance Ordnance Course and Airborne School. In 1976, she was commissioned to a 2nd Lieutenant in the Ordnance specialty. Following her military service, Ms. Holmes became a United States Postal Service employee, serving in a variety of capacities until she was forced to retire in 2014 due to her vision loss. She left USPS with 36

Having enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1968, Abraham Castro-Peña started his first assignment in the Republic of Vietnam. He extended his tours for three years as a helicopter pilot with the 1st Air Cavalry, where he obtained experience and gained long-lasting friendships that he admires. Further in his military career, Castro-Peña confronted medical conditions such as vision loss, which has been the most difficult to accept and adapt to. He is currently receiving treatment