TEXARKANA, Texas -- For 26 years, Texarkana Area Chapter 278 of Vietnam Veterans of America has helped to connect military veterans with medical, occupational, shelter and educational aid by holding an annual information fair.
This year's fair was Saturday at the Elks Lodge on New Boston Road.
VVA President Greg Beck said the idea to start holding an annual veterans information fair came in the mid- to late 1990s, when he attended a veterans state council meeting where a similar information distribution event took place.
"They were conducting something similar to what we have going on now, so we decided on holding this type of information event, and so far, it's worked year after year," Beck said.
Beck said the first two years of the fair were at the former Ramada Inn Hotel. It moved to another local hotel for two years, and then to the American Legion Hall on the Arkansas side for another two years.
From the American Legion, the fair moved to the Texas side's Southwest Center for four years before arriving at the Elks Lodge.
Beck said about every year since it started, the fair has drawn no less then 14 or 15 veterans assistance agencies, which have assisted on average at least 50 local and area veterans. This year's fair aided 70 veterans.
"Every year, our veterans assistance agencies help our vets file medical claims, as well as gain assistance in helping find home health care, along with aiding homeless veterans to find employment and a place to live," he said.
Beck said the veterans aided by the annual fairs range in age from the 20s to the 80s.
The fairs assist veterans from Operation Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"We even had a couple of World War II veterans at our most recent fair," Becks said