Full Description
History has told us something about our war dead but very little about our war wounded. Veterans with a Vision provides a vibrant, poignant, and very human history of Canada's war-blinded veterans, whose courage and the organization they created reshaped the way Canadians and successive governments perceived war disability and, in particular, blindness.
Serge Durflinger illuminates the lives of the war blinded by detailing the veterans' process of civil re-establishment, physical and psychological rehabilitation, and social and personal coping. He describes how, in 1922, a group of veterans formed the Sir Arthur Pearson Association of War Blinded (SAPA), closely linked to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). This organization effectively advocated for government pension entitlements, job retraining, and other social programs that allowed veterans to regain a strong measure of independence.
Veterans with a Vision captures the spirit of perseverance that permeated the veterans' community and highlights the impacts made by the war blinded as advocates for all Canadian veterans and all blind citizens.
Contents
Preface
Introduction
1 Canada's First War Blinded, 1899-1918
2 The Sir Arthur Pearson Club of War Blinded Soldiers and Sailors, 1919-29
3 The Years of Struggle, 1930-39
4 Rehabilitating the Blinded Casualties of the Second World War, 1939-50
5 Older and Wiser: Canada's War Blinded in the Aftermath of War, 1945-70
6 Twilight, 1971-2002
Conclusion
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
