SHANKSVILLE ― The American flag is one of the most recognized symbols of our country, but its 50 stars and 13 stripes aren’t visible to Americans who are blind or have low vision, including veterans who lost their eyesight as a result of their military service.
A bronze Braille American flag posted inside the Visitors Center at the Flight 93 National Memorial now shows the grandeur of Old Glory to the nearly 400,000 guests who visit the Somerset County, Pa., site each year to learn about the heroism of the 40 passengers and crew aboard Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001.
Members of the Pennsylvania Moose Association worked with the American Braille Flag Project to bring the Braille American flag for permanent display at the Flight 93 National Memorial. The group gathered at the memorial, with Moose members in attendance from Ohio, New Jersey, Virginia and Illinois, to dedicate the flag on June 14, for Flag Day, said James Hudack of Huntingdon, president of the Pennsylvania Moose Association.
Hudack said there are 74,000 members in the Pennsylvania Moose Association, including local lodges in Meyersdale and in Windber, Somerset County, where Hudack grew up.
What does the Braille American flag look like?
The tactile Braille American flag was created by Randolph Cabral, president of the Kansas Braille Transcription Institute; its stars and alternating stripes are raised above the bronze metal surface, with the words to the Pledge of Allegiance transcribed in Braille across the flag's darker stripes.
Over 100 of these Braille American flags have been installed at veterans’ hospitals and public places across the country, including Arlington National Cemetery and at public schools and libraries, said Walter Peters, president of the American Braille Flag Project.
This and other versions of the Braille flag are available to purchase through the Kansas Braille Transcription Institute’s website, kbti.org.
'I couldn't even see it, but I felt it'
Peters, a retired staff sergeant in the U.S. Army, became legally blind as a result of being exposed to Agent Orange many times while serving three tours of combat duty in Vietnam. In his civilian life, he is an accomplished studio musician, having played guitar on more than 155 albums with well-known country artists like George Strait, Kenny Rogers and Carrie Underwood.
Wearing the same Army uniform he received about 55 years ago, Peters remarked how he felt when Cabral gave him a copy of the Braille American flag.
“I fell in love with it the first time I seen it, and I couldn’t even see it, but I felt it. It made my day, and ever since then, Randy and I have done a lot of flags all over God’s creation,” Peters said.
“I wear it (the uniform) to honor the Braille flag and where it’s at and where we present it. There’s no greater love right now than this Braille flag for a blind American. A blind American, not just vets. We have a lot of good Americans who feel lost – but see, when God gives us a will to do something, he’s not going to do it for us, but he gives us the strength and talent where we can do it ourselves.”
He and retired U.S. Navy Commander Paul Kaminsky, the CEO of the American Braille Flag Project, are determined to have these flags posted at as many VA hospitals and public places as possible, Peters said.
“When they feel this flag - that’s why you see a veteran walk up to this flag and touch it and start crying like a baby. We’ve seen this a number of times, and it fills your old heart to watch a veteran because he’s finally recognized something that’s recognized him. He reached out and touched it, and it touched him.
“This is what the Braille flag is about. When they come to the memorial to see this place, they can touch this flag and it will fill their hearts, because it’s that good.”
A Braille American flag in every National Park?
Other speakers at the presentation were Stephen Clark, superintendent of five national parks in western Pennsylvania, including the Flight 93 National Memorial; Scott Hart, chief executive officer for Moose International and Ken Nacke, brother of Flight 93 passenger Louis “Joey” Nacke.
Clark said in his remarks that he intends to get the word out to others about putting a tactile Braille American flag at more national parks across the country.
“(This) was something I was really looking forward to doing and supporting,” he said. “I’m going to go a step further: I have the honor of serving as the superintendent of five national parks, and I pledge to you all, within the next several months, not only will a Braille flag be at Flight 93, I promise, one of those exact flags will be at the other four visitors centers in the next several months.
“My superiors have no idea about what I’m going to say ... but I pledge, as I stand here, that I am going to work each and every day with my colleagues in leadership, throughout the other 424 national parks, that a Braille flag is in every visitor’s center across the country. I really don’t think that’s a stretch. I think my colleagues, once they understand how significant and how important it is, they’ll do just that.”
Donations to the American Braille Flag Project, Inc. can be made online at abfp.us or by sending donations to the organization at this address: P.O. Box 232, Middleburg, FL 32050-0232.
Beth covers news in the northern communities of Somerset County for the Daily American. Send any story ideas to her at bethm@dailyamerican.com.
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