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By Jessica Fargen Monday, March 5, 2007 A national rights group for the blind is vowing action after a vision-impaired South Boston man was denied a visit on the historic USS John F. Kennedy yesterday after Navy officers told him it was too perilous for the blind. "When it happens, it's a very traumatic experience to be denied the right to participate in something," said Mika Pyyhkala, 34, who unlike 30,000 other people, did not get a chance to walk the deck of the USS JFK yesterday. Marc Maurer, an attorney and president of the National Federation of the Blind in Baltimore, said the Navy's denial violates the federal Americans with Disabilities Act as well as a state law providing for equal access. "I was outraged by it and I still am. Blind people are not prepared to stand for it. He has the support of thousands of blind people around the United States," Maurer said last night, adding that he planned to meet with staff today to craft a response. Navy Lt. Paul Brawley said people in wheelchairs and motorized scooters were allowed access this weekend, but not the blind. The aircraft carrier's open hatches and narrow doorways aren't safe for a blind person and there weren't enough crew members to personally escort Pyyhkala, said Brawley. "It's a matter of safety," he said. "This is a ship of war. It is not a federal building. It is not a public building." He said children under 6 were denied entry as well. Pyyhkala was the only blind person who attempted to board the ship this weekend, Brawley said. Brawley said 30,000 people visited the ship yesterday - that's 3,500 visitors an hour - and there were only 800 crewmembers to manage the crowds. Another 21,000 people toured it Saturday. The ship will be decommissioned March 23. David Ticchi, president of the Cambridge chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, said yesterday was Pyyhkala's last chance to visit the great war ship and that's a shame. "The boat's pulling out today, unfortunately," he said. "He takes the time to go there. He's a citizen, a taxpayer and he's interested in it and denied an opportunity purely on the basis of his vision. It's discriminatory." The National Federation of the Blind's Press Release: U.S. Navy Discriminates Against Blind Americans Baltimore, Maryland (March 5, 2007): Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: "The fact that a blind person was not permitted to tour the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy like other members of the public is a stain upon the good reputation of the United States Armed Forces. Members of the military are charged with defending the rights of all Americans, and for them to trample upon those rights instead is unacceptable. At the very least, United States Navy officials owe Mika Pyyhkala an apology for their conduct in this matter. The National Federation of the Blind will pursue all available legal remedies under the laws of the United States and the state of Massachusetts. Our intention is to send, loud and clear, the message that the blind will not tolerate discrimination against us in any aspect of life. If we allow the claim that we cannot visit an aircraft carrier that is open to the public, based on the patently fallacious justification that our doing so would be unsafe, to be made with impunity, we will next be told that we cannot visit a restaurant, or a school, or a park. Blind people work, play, and move about in the world as well as anyone, and we will not stand for being treated like small children."
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