By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Old Glory that the blind can see will be dedicated here in Hutchinson on Sunday. There will be a dedication on Sunday of a national monument to blind veterans and other blind Americans, a tactile American flag.
"We're inviting the whole public to come out," said Dennis Romero with the Kansas Braille Transcription Institute. "We've got in contact with the VFW and the American Legion here in Hutchinson and they are coming out to support us in this. It's a 2 p.m. quick dedication in your city of this Braille American flag."
Randolph Cabral, a Hutchinson native, created the flag back in 2005 for his father a war blinded WWII veteran.
"My mother approached me one day and said, you know, you've been working with the blind all of these years, why didn't you give your father a flag that he could still see?" Cabral said. "My father always posted the American flag on the front porch. I looked everywhere and could not find one anywhere in the United States or in the world for that matter. Trying to be a dutiful son, I created one."
Then Congressman Todd Tiahrt found out about the flag and was able, with the help of then Senator Sam Brownback, to get it posted at Arlington National Cemetery in 2008.
"I thought it only befitting that now that these monuments have actually been reproduced and placed in numerous places around the United States, this is where its home actually is, this is where it originated and this is where it certainly should be."
The monument will be at Avenue A Park facing Avenue A Street. The public is encouraged to attend.