President's Page by Larry Belote

The BVA 61st National Convention is now history. The folks from New York State proved to be great hosts and Buffalo is a wonderful city. I wish to extend my thanks to the countless number of individuals who made the convention possible. I am personally pleased and humbled to have the opportunity to be the National President for one more year. Thank you for also making that opportunity possible.

I used to think that all conventions were alike. In fact, many of the past conventions have blurred in my memory. I am sure that significant things happened at each one of them, but the memories dim as time goes on. This convention was different, at least for me, and it had to do with the veterans that I met at the convention.

I need to explain this a bit further. As National President, I have the privilege of shaking many hands, but this year I made an effort to listen to the people. I can think of many individuals who stood out and they caught my attention. They made me think about who we are as a group and the veterans we serve.

One veteran I met from a northern state was a World War II soldier. He is retired and in his golden years. His vision loss is from macular degeneration. He has lived a great life and has a fine family. He is actually providing some of the care for his wife as she faces an ongoing medical problem. Being a visually impaired care provider is no problem for a member of his generation. He and his counterparts have risen to many challenges in the past. He sees himself as needing very little and is very thankful for being relatively well off at this time in his life. He feels that the services he needs consist of a periodic tune-up of his low vision needs. He is probably right. With low vision services he should be able to maintain his present lifestyle for a number of years.

I later met a Vietnam veteran from the South. He is what I think of as young – near my age. Others might classify that as middle-aged. He is starting to have severe health problems due to his service in Vietnam. Beyond his eye problems and diabetes, this veteran is having serious issues with his kidneys, neuropathy complications, and some heart difficulties. All these things are linked to his exposure to Agent Orange. This man decided to learn to use a computer so that he would have a way out of his home in the future. He was amazingly candid and realistic about what the future may hold for him as his diabetes progresses. I cannot help but think that his circumstances will be different from those of World War II veterans when he reaches the same age.

I also met a young man from the Midwest who was severely injured in Iraq. He was one of the eight individuals whose attendance Tom Zampieri had arranged and was accompanied by his wife. Their children remained home with the grandparents. He was there with his wife while their children remained home with grandparents. They seemed to be doing well. He is currently in a blind center and was permitted to attend our convention. There is an amazing future ahead for this courageous man and his family. There will be successes, challenges, and emotions, some of which I experienced myself but which I can only vaguely remember from the distant past.

For us, the Blinded Veterans Association, our job is to advocate for all of these veterans. They all have their own unique needs, and there is no particular size that fits the great diversity of cases. We need to insure that the full Continuum of Care remains in place for all of these individuals.

These encounters and other experiences at the convention encouraged me and left me committed to do many things. Yes, I’ve felt this way after other conventions too. I know I’ve left past gatherings thinking there were things I needed to do, or to follow up on, only to allow those things to become blurred and eventually forgotten or overlooked.

But I think this year might be different. The three individuals I’ve referenced here made an indelible impression on me. If details start to fade, all I have to do is take a moment to think of one or all three of them and I will be brought back into focus as to why BVA is here and what I might do to help.

Again, I offer my personal thanks to all of you for granting me another term in office. I cannot express how grateful I am to have the opportunity to serve you. If we have never met before, I hope we will have the opportunity to meet next year in Albuquerque.

Never forget why we are here as an organization. I promise I will not forget.

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