MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, ORE.
Sinders Retires as
(Editor'i note The follow
''- Ing article wai written by
,H John W. Sinderi ha re-
tired at chairman, of the
Jackson County Committee
.' for lha Employment of the
? Physically Handicapped.
, ' By . JOHN . W. SINDERS
'' My ' sincere thanks to the
people of Jackson county for
, allowing me the privilege of
serving on your handicapped
committee for. the': past 4V4
'years and representing you
as chairman of the Jackson
County- Committee for the
. Employment of the Physical
ly Handicapped. .
, I felt that being a member
and a part of such a worth-
While committee was indeed
an . honor and a . pleasure,
i The knowledge and experi
ence I gained is immeasurable
. and will prove invaluable if
I have the ' opportunity to
; work with such. a. committee
in the, futm'sv v -:
' The employers here in. the
.'valley, I am proud to report,
'.. " are talking; giant steps, for
ward with our handicapped
program. Recent reports from
the. local; state employment
office 'reveal that during the
past year or two the number
of occasions for referral of
' applicants with physical
. handicaps has risen consider
. ably with a like increase in
the numbers employed.
t Result of Own Effort )
i We may all selfishy' look
,--: upon this as the results of our
; own efforts and we are par
: tially right, but remember in
combining all individual ef
r forts we have a group effort,
' a team effort, a community ef
r fort, which in reality resulted
in more calls and more cm--j
ployment of the handicapped.
' - We have only learned to
crawl; now we must stand up
and walk. Let's take those
i giant steps so necessary with
the handicapped placement
program by - taking positive
action to assure placement of
, the physically, handicapped
i person . on his productive
j skills and abilities. ;
, ..As- the community of em
i ployers, we can rightfully be
' proud -of the results 1 being
.'accomplished. I am not say
ing that an employer should
.-hire every, handicapped per
son who applies.. ;, . v, ...
-( Many Applicants . 'i (i
Being; a personnel; officer
:' myself and responsible for re
cruitment, I know there are
imany impaired applicants
: who may come in looking for
work who are not suitable for
the existing vacancy. This is
also true : of unimpaired ap
plicants. ..-,., r t. . .
But by placing those with
. ! skills and abilities, ' we have
- greatly reduced the number
of unemployed in the physi
cally handicapped area. What
we have left are those who
' may be considered unemploy
. able at this time. This group
remaining may prove, and in
reality will be the most .dim-
' cult of the lot. Here we will
, need help. .: ;
There will have to be social
: . evaluations, ' and the state
; vocational rehabilitation serv
ice will be most helpful here
1 With such assistance many of
V these remaining handicapped
can 1 be : rehabilitated and
, placed in lobs.
Should we not ' take the
steps to increase the employ-
ment for the physically handi-
.. capped we may find ourselves
facing a picture which we
; will certainly hate to view
i , It has been estimated that
: there are 30 million handi-
' capped men and women in
? our population. Some 10 mll
.. lion are : severely h a n 1-
capped; half hold jobs and the
Other' half do not. ;
' On the " veterans adminis-
; t r a t i o n compensation and
' pension rolls are nearly ; 3
' million veterans, more than
half of whom are severely
i handicapped. Many of them
hold jobs; many do not.
t ' The office of vocational re
' habilitation ' has said ' that
-some 250 thousand men and
women who need vocational
1 rehabilitation in order to
overcome their handicaps; yet
OVRS ever rising program
can serve . but one-third of
' them.
There are some 2 million
Americans who could' be pre-
pared for jobs if only they
had ' ' access to vocational
rehabilitation. One-third of a
. million handicapped persons
apply each year for jobs at
public employment offices.
Many are placed, yet many
; are not. -."
These are not numbers,
statistics, they are individual
' human beings. Do they not
have the right" to hope, the
- right to achieve their own in
dividual destinies, the same as
all other men and women in
the world? Is our job ever
done so long as joblessness
'clouds the hope in the breast
of one handicapped person?
This is the picture of which
: I speak. You are businessmen,
'with ' the bu ild-up of
' nonrehabilitated employable
handicapped persons you can
' see what the cost to the tax-
payers could be for employ-
ment compensation, relief
; payment, and other items. '
The question is what are
, we going to do? We are at the
t forks of the road. We may go
Tigh and foltowin good prin
pate in the employment of the
physically handicapped. We
may take the left turn and
leave them by the wayside to
wither and die on our econo
mic vine. , . - -
I have - heard employers
and employing representa
tives say "in my business
we just simply can not utilize
handicapped employees," and
give many reasons for such a
statement. - '
" How do they know? Should
one of you fall in this cate
gory, how do you know?
Have you tried?
Try a handicapped person
m your next- vacancy.- uive
him or her the opportunity to
prove his ability and -capabilities.'
. Continue your support of1
the , handicapped by calling
your local- state employment
agency today., The employ
ment of the physically handi
capped is good business.
Committee Chairman; Writer
- f
i' lf i
A F 1
!'
JOHN SINDERS
Transferred to Chicago .
By JIM GILL AM
Mail Tribune Correspondent
' From the comparatively
quiet solitude of the Rogue
River valley to the dynamics
with piles of steel and con
crete, elevated, and subway
rails, freeways and a spider's
net of railroads; from .. the
beauty of the salmon and
steelhead and trout pools of
the famous Rogue river to
the shores of teeming Lake
Michigan, is a long step even
for those unafraid of the
1960's and the new Frontiers.
John Sinders, personnel of
ficer at the Veterans Admin
istration domiciliary, White
City, is being transferred to
the VA's Hines hospital in
Chicago, 'according to Man
ager Henry C. Herzog.
The story of John and Mary
Sinders is good for. our times
and moods, and' its results
have been goo4 for innumera
ble people who have become
the special objects of the Pres
idents of the United States
and . the Committee for the
Employment of the Physically
Handicapped. ;
Sinders was awarded the
President's citation first' in
the region ;- for meritorious
service. in the. field of. the
handicapped. The Jackson
county committee, of which
he is -a former chairman,
awarded him other citations.
He is an authority through
self-experience. J
A Texas Marine, he and
some 8,000 others were on
Corregidor in the Philippines
when . the invading . Japanese
hit. On May 7, 1942, Sinders
was one of those captured. -
Amoebic dysentery attack
ed him almost, immediately,
and within less than 30 days
his weight dropped from a
husky 198 to 113 pounds.
Within a short time later he
noticed that he had trouble
seeing the fences at Cabana-
tuan prison camp. Next, he
could not make out the build
ings,, and after four months
could not read the only two
books he still had-the Bible
and a Spanish textbook which
he had been studying during
his Philippine duty.
' i His captors believed in the
principle of no work, no eat.
Since seeing meant working
and working meant eating,
his chances for survival were
not in his favor. He learned
to find his way as a member
of a gardening detail through
his - senses of , hearing and
touch, v ...
However, the last year of
his imprisonment was In
Northern Japan where he
hauled logs and worked in a
copper mine. - ; i
The end of the war- saved
him from the impending doom
of knowing he could not sur
vive another winter. It was
' . SUNDAY, APRIL 2, 1961 J
Gives Profile in Courage
a three-mile hike from camp
to the mine and there the
moist air was merciless.
On Sept. 14, 1945, after
3Vi years, he was started to
ward stateside. At Oak Knoll
Naval hospital, Oakland,
Calif., . he learned that the
dysentary and malnutrition
had killed the optical nerves
in his eyes. He had less than
five-two hundredths vision -and
that portion came from
the peripheral nerves. Treat
ment started and with it the
adjustment necessary to make
a living-somehow. He was
taught Braille and given a
whitened cane.
And then he met Mary, a
Wave at nearby Camp Shoe-maker-a
jumping off station
for Pacific sea going sailors.
They were married in less
than a month. , . I
Sinders was sent to Phila-1
delphla and then to the Insti-
tute ' for the Blind in New
York City for testing and re
habilitation. ; Discharged, he
and Mary went back to Texas
where both entered Clifton
Junior college and later Bay
lor university. Both eventu
ally took law degrees through
Mary's eyes principally. After
examinations and ratings, he
entered the Veterans admin
istration service at Waco; then
at VA hospitals in Salisbury
and Durham, N.C.
Since college days he has
learned to use telescopic lensa
glausos-which give him eight
inches of sight. Another lenso
allows him to view distant
objects and such spectacles as
football games and movies but
mostly with one eye at a
time. ...
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