(NAPSA)—If you or someone you care aboutis among America’s more than 20 million veterans, here are a few facts andfigures you may findinteresting: About one in 10 Americans is a veteran. + Aboutthree-quarters of veterans have served during wartime. + Gulf War-era veterans now account for the largest share of all U.S. veterans. More than a million veterans are legally blindor havelow vision. Hundreds of veterans work for an Employing OurNation's Veterans organization that supplies the military and the VA. (NIB) andits networkof associated non- Alphapointe has manufactured nearly 1 National Industries for the Blind profit agencies employ more than 5,800 people whoareblind,including nearly 600 ofournation’s veterans. These dedicated men and women working in NIB’s network support our nation’s veterans by manufacturing products and providing essential servicesfor the federal governmentand US. military, including the U.S. Department ofVeterans Affairs (VA). People whoare blind also produce hundreds ofproducts available to veterans andtheir families in military commissaries and exchanges. OneVet's Story USS. Navy veteran Antonio Arbelois oneof the 27 employees whoare blind orvisually impaired who work around the clock to make, pack and ship medicine bottles at Alphapointe. Head- quartered in Kansas City, Missouri, billion medicinebottlesfor the VA since the mid-1990s. Arbelo enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1985. After basic and advanced train- ing, he was assigned to an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit. Wounded ona mission,helostsight in one eye and was medically dischargedin 1992. After his discharge, Arbelo joined Alphapointe full-time as packer and machinist in the plastics departmentin supportof the VA medicinebottles contract. “I’m pretty sure I’ve madea lot of thebottles in my medicine cabinet? he says with a laugh. Learn More NIB andits associated agencies are the nation’s largest employer of people whoare blind. For more information, visit www.NIB.org.
