More on BVA Emblem Design
You requested additional information about the origin of your BVA emblem in your last issue of the Bulletin and hinted that Robert “Bob” Amendola might have been the individual responsible for the design.
 Rachel Rosenbaum remembers the man behind the BVA emblem and his work with Father Carroll. |
Yes, Bob did create the emblem. In fact, BVA thanked him for the design by presenting him with a maple bench on which the insignia was carved. Bob donated the bench to the Carroll Center.
Bob was more than a contemporary of Father Carroll. When Father and the small band of early pioneers of blind rehabilitation were putting together a program at Avon Old Farms, they noted that some veterans were able to learn mobility rather easily while others struggled. Father believed that someone who was accustomed to thinking about spatial concepts and how to visualize space might be able to apply such thinking to mobility training.
Accordingly, Father called on his friend Bob Amendola, a sculptor and a trained artist, to help him think through this relationship. Bob was not just any artist—he had graduated from Yale and had a methodical, almost engineering approach to his work. The application of his theories, for example, resulted in the measurement of angles at which trainees veered as they walked. Ironically, one of Walt Stromer’s stories also turned up in your last issue. It turns out that it was Walt who wrote me several years ago about his recollections of Bob’s “videation” lesson.
Bob’s contributions at Avon Old Farms were indeed fortuitous. It so happened that he had been drafted to help in the design of airplane engines for wartime production at Pratt-Whitney in nearby Hartford. On weekends he would go to Old Farms to work with the veterans. Resulting from these months of association, which turned out to be years, was the development of several courses for the blinded veterans. Some of these included videation, sensory training, and imagery stimulation. Because of Bob’s artistic capability, it is really no surprise that he either volunteered, or “was volunteered” by Father Carroll, to conceive of and design your unique emblem.
After reading your article, I searched Father Carroll’s file of BVA speeches and other materials spanning 1946-49 but did not find a reference to the emblem.
Rachel Rosenbaum
Director and CEO
Carroll Center for the Blind
Editor’s Note: Rachel’s recollection that Robert Amendola designed the emblem was also substantiated by Irv Schloss and Ray Frey, both of whom were at Harry Truman’s side in the Oval Office in 1948 as he presented the emblem to the BVA contingency.
Vet Thanks VA BRS
I think it is about time that some unsung heroes and heroines of VA Blind Rehabilitation Services are thanked properly and publicly—thanked because, in the civilian sector, there is little care or consideration for those of us with diminished or severely reduced vision.
Most if not all eye specialists and ophthalmologists in the public sector wish to make drastic changes for the better in patients’ vision. While this is a worthy goal, they are not impressed when there is but a one or two percent improvement in an individual’s vision. They fail to realize that the one or two-percent improvement for us might mean a 100 percent increase in our appreciation of the blessing of seeing just a little better. VA BRS seems to grasp this reality much better.
I witnessed one fellow veteran recently who stood just a few feet away from me. He was crying as he saw the sight of our flag for the first time in many years. This veteran had just returned from the Eastern Blind Rehabilitation Center.
From the VIST Coordinators who make the arrangements to the folks at the Blind Rehab Centers, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Leon Moten
Jumping Branch, WV
Blinded Vet Lauds In-Home Training
I have just completed 20 hours of in-home computer training, provided to me by Ray Oddis and Rob Moreno. As you are probably aware, this training is designed to help the blinded veteran become more familiar with his computer in the comfort of his own home.
I found my instructor to be most knowledgeable, efficient, and patient. It is an excellent program and idea. I have also spoken with a number of other vets for whom the instruction appears to be working well.
The beauty of the in-home idea is that immediately after the instructor leaves your home, you can then sit down and practice everything you learned while it is still fresh in your mind. I am very encouraged by the possibilities this program has for the future.
Victor Jenacaro
Las Vegas, NV
A Busman's Holiday
Tom Zampieri, our BVA Director of Governmental Relations was in San Antonio, Texas, recently. He was there on his own time, which means he was using his annual leave, to attend the Physician Assistant National Continued Medical Education meeting.
Finding that he would have some spare moments on his hands on Thursday, April 13, Tom joined up with BVA National President Larry Belote, Director of District 6 Mark Cornell, and me (National Secretary and President of the South Texas Regional Group) to visit the district offices of Congressman Henry Bonilla, Congressman Charles A. Gonzalez, and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. We were well received as we discussed issues of concern for our membership with staff members in these offices.
Our group also visited the Brooke Army Medical Center in order to meet with Captain Christopher A. Ebner of Occupational Therapy Services. Captain Ebner, a licensed occupational therapist, showed us around and explained the latest innovations being used to rehabilitate the recently returned veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom have multiple severe injuries in addition to loss of sight. BROS Bob Kozel of VA’s South Texas Veterans Health Care System has coordinated closely with the staff and doctors at Brooke in assisting these veterans to make the adjustments necessary to overcome their injuries.
This is just another example of dedicated men of BVA and VA combining their efforts in the best interest of fellow veterans--even when on vacation!
Dr. Sidney Ordway
San Antonio, TX
VA Statement on Veterans Benefits
There has been some inaccurate reporting of medical benefits available through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and I wanted to set the record straight.
In 2005, VA performed 55 million medical appointments in its delivery of world-class health care to some 5.4 million veterans. VA health care was rated—by our own patients—to be better than health care in the private sector, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
A recent Associated Press report on veterans seeking VA health care referred to certain veterans who are not eligible to receive it. These are higher income individuals who suffered no injury or illness related to their military service. We want to be clear that absolutely nobody is being cut from VA health care rolls and no veteran will be disenrolled from VA health care unless they specifically request it.
Discussions of veterans benefits are important. Misinformation can be a disservice to veterans and their families, so it’s critical to make sure the facts are accurately reported.
Lisette Mondello
Assistant Secretary
Public and Intergovernmental Affairs
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
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