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Veterans center plaque lets blind vets feel the American flag

A new addition to the Abie Abraham VA Health Care Center calls attention to about 130,000 blind veterans in the United States.

In a world where representation is important, the newly dedicated bronze braille American flag plaque calls attention to the needs of those legally blind veterans and even more with “low vision” that make performing daily tasks a challenge.

Considering this population has served our country, the braille flag — presented to the facility by the Pennsylvania Moose Association as part of a drive to donate braille flag plaques to every VA center that serves Pennsylvania veterans — is likely even more meaningful.

Navy veteran John Neudorfer, who is visually impaired, reads the American braille flag at the Abie Abraham VA Health Care Center on Friday. The Pennsylvania Moose Association, in partnership with the American Braille Flag Project, dedicated the flag to the Abie Abraham VA Health Center during the ceremony. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

“It represents something that I'm very proud of,” U.S. Navy veteran Jim Neudorfer said on Friday, Dec. 13, following a dedication ceremony, where he was the first to run his hands across the braille words for the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Moose association’s effort comes in collaboration with the American Braille Flag Project, which sets out, according to the project’s website, to be a “patriotic and educational endeavor” that places a tactile American braille flag in VA facilities visited by blind veterans.

As a secondary goal, the project aims to place the flag in schools and libraries, too, so “blind students may learn by touch what the American flag is like” and “other blind Americans may have access to seeing the flag.”

It’s an effort worth recognizing. So many of us know the patriotic feelings that come along with seeing the red, white and blue colors flapping in the wind. We are able to catch a glimpse of the 50 stars and 13 stripes frequently posted on flagpoles across the county and waving along Main Street for holiday parades.

That experience should be accessible to all Americans, especially those who have served the nation.

The Bronze Braille tactile flag features stripes that aren’t colored, but instead indicate whether they are “red” or “white” with the letters “r” and “w” at the end of each of the 13 rows. The words to the Pledge of Allegiance are written along the stripes in English and Braille.

We’re proud to see the flag displayed at the Abie Abraham VA Health Care Center and hope that the project’s mission may further spread into Butler County to make that flag even more accessible in our community.

— TL

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