A life-size and lifelike painted bronze statue of a man and his dog stand near the Morristown Green in Morristown, New Jersey. The man is Morris Frank, co-founder and first Vice President of The Seeing Eye. The dog’s harness is immediately recognizable as that of an assistance animal. The dog is Buddy, a German Shepherd and the first guide dog for the blind in the United States. The statue is entitled “The Way to Independence.” Frank was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1908 and spent much of his childhood assisting his…