By: Ciera Terry
From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., April 1-2, on the second floor of the McMahon Centennial
Complex, the Office of Veterans Affairs hosted their biannual Vet Fest at Cameron
University.
A multitude of organizations for veterans came together to share with Cameron students
and alumni the resources and opportunities that are accessible to veterans.
The Vet Center, an organization that assists veterans, set up a table and provided
pamphlets about their organization.
Veteran advocate Tyrone Holden is the operator of the Mobile Vet Center.
“We console veterans and veterans’ families,” he said. “We do everything from PTSD,
anxiety and depression that kind of thing.”
The Vet Center assists veterans with transitioning through the Veterans Benefits
Administation system.
“We help them (veterans) find providers or find information on how they get VA
(Veterans Affairs) ID cards or a primary care team — whatever the case may be,” he
said.
The Vet Center helps veterans all around Oklahoma.
“I use the Vet mobile to go out to rural areas to talk to veterans about the VA and all the
benefits they offer to the veterans,” Holden said.
Holden said Cameron is warm and welcoming to the veteran community.
“It has an atmosphere that’s very inviting, and the military personnel are received very
well,” he said. “They have programs lined up.”
The Vet Center seized the opportunity to talk and discuss with future military personnel.
President of the Lawton/Ft. Sill chapter of the Oklahoma Women’s Veterans
Organization (OKWVO) U. Lisa Williams visited Cameron to stand with fellow veterans
and their family members to share as a community the different organizations and
services that OKWVO provides.
“I’m here to support and let fellow veterans know that we exist and to bring awareness,”
she said.
Native American Navigator Michael Gardner is part of the US Veterans Affairs Medical
Center, and he came to Cameron to advocate for Native Veterans.
“The VA has contracts with the tribes here in Oklahoma, so when veterans that are
Native American get enrolled and want to seek their health care in Lawton at the Indian
hospital, we’ll pay for it,” Gardner said. “That way they can stay locally for their health
care, but they also get to use to the VA in case they need something else we have
(such as an MRI). I want students that are here to know the benefits they’ve earned
through the VA; it has a partner with education, health care and family benefits,” he
said.
For more information on Vet Fest, contact the Office of Veterans Affairs at
va@cameron.edu