American Legion Post 4 unveiled a bronze plaque at the Veterans Memorial Building in City Park Wednesday evening that will benefit the visually impaired.

Commander of the post John Aldridge said the group acquired a plaque which reads the pledge of allegiance in braille. An unveiling ceremony took place at the building that included veterans, Iberia Parish President Larry Richard and council members.

Gary Schoelerman with the Blinded Veterans Association said the plaque also includes an American flag with stars and stripes. The braille is etched between the stripes on the plaque and allows the visually impaired to read the pledge firsthand.

Schoelerman said the Blind Veterans Association has installed similar plaques all throughout Louisiana, including the Louisiana School of the Visually Impaired in Baton Rouge which has children from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Schoelerman described one instance where a young girl was able to better understand what a flag is while reading the pledge in braille, which better connected her to the pledge she says every morning at the school.

“A lot have never had sight and it’s a way of introducing them to everything that’s available,” Schoelerman said. “We want to promote this amongst the blind and make sure everyone is aware of it.”

Aldridge said American Legion Post 4 was able to raise the funds for the plaque, which sits in the lobby of the Veterans Memorial Building, through the organization’s budget.

Iberia Parish Larry Richard, a U.S. Army veteran himself, thanked Schoelerman and the legion for the contribution.

“I can say we really appreciate this,” Richard said. “We’re going to treasure this.”

Aldridge said that although there were not any active members of his post who were blind, there could be local veterans in New Iberia that could make use of the plaque.