Regular meetings to be held for veterans

After holding a successful information seminar for veterans regarding benefits they may be entitled to, a twice-monthly group meeting is scheduled to help veterans even more. The first meeting will be May 10.

Seminar organizer and Vietnam veteran Rod McClellan sees a need in Warren County when it comes to veterans and the seminar was just the beginning.

?At least four or five veterans that I know of are now getting help,? said McClellan. ?I hope there are more. We shared a lot of information on that night.?

The seminar was held in January. It was attended by over 40 veterans with guest speaker Lee Orman from the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs.

On a recent trip to the Veterans Hospital in Murfreesboro, McClellan met a veteran who had no family or friends to turn to for support.

?He was so depressed,? said McClellan. ?While talking to him, I realized that others must be having the same problem. After I got his phone number, I thought about holding a meeting every other week. Someone has to start talking to these guys.?

Although the meeting is meant to be about helping each other, some war stories are bound to slip into the mix, but that?s not the main focus.

?You get a bunch of vets together and telling war stories is going to happen,? said McClellan. ?I want these meetings to be about helping each other. I want to know what they have done and what we can do as a group.?

The meetings will begin on May 10 at 7 p.m. and be held at the Warren County Chamber of Commerce building in downtown McMinnville.