Veterans Expo resumes in Beaumont

A dozen years after its inception, dozens and dozens of regional veterans and their families continue to have an opportunity to discover resources and benefits that the country owes to them for their service.

Last weekend the 12th annual Veterans Expo was held at the Albert A. Chatigny Sr. Community Center in Beaumont, offering more space to maneuver for aging vets in wheelchairs and walkers.

Nearly 50 vendors were stationed around the center, offering advice and insights from mental health services and veterans clubs and associations such as the VFW Post 233 and Vietnam Veterans Chapter 47, the Air Space Force Association and the American Legion Post 428.

County programs, services organizations such as the Riverside Office of Aging and So Cal Adaptive Sports, Dignity Memorial and Riverside National Cemetery were on hand to answer questions and offer guidance.

The program commenced as a ceremony, with a presentation of colors by Beaumont High School’s JROTC, the national anthem sung by Beaumont police officer Lyndon Peats, and remarks from Congressman Raul Ruiz, Marine veteran Artie Allen (who led the Pledge of Allegiance) and Riverside County Department of Veterans’ Services Grant Gauche.

The program was presided over by Mayor Pro Tem David Fenn, a retired Army sergeant who served with the 701st Military Intelligence Brigade.

Ruiz was a keynote speaker, lauding his legislation on burn pits that were included last summer in the National Defense Authorization Act, to extend health benefits to veterans who were exposed to breathing in the acrid air near giant pits where the military in remote locations, far from any municipal waste service availability, would burn anything from solid waste, retired equipment and chemicals to medical waste and munitions.

The toxic fumes emitted around those stationed in places such as Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq and Djibouti have been determined to cause a variety of long-term health issues.

Ruiz’s inclusion of victims exposed to burn pits now allow those veterans afflicted by them to assure healthcare and treatment coverage.

Ruiz also presented a flag that had been flown over the U.S. Capitol to Veterans Expo Committee member and fellow speaker Allen, and listed off the copious ways Allen is involved in programs around the area.

Allen talked about the importance of veterans legislation, and advocated for mental health and suicide prevention.

After the ceremony, Allen told the Record Gazette that he was relieved at how successful the Veterans Expo was this year, since it had been dormant for a couple of pandemic years.

Allen, a former master gunnery sergeant who was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Okinawa, as well as north of Chicago near the Great Lakes, was excited “to see the size of the crowd and all those booths. That was pretty awesome.”

As for the flag he received from Ruiz, “I’m going to display it in my Marine Corps man cave” at his home in Menifee.

Lisa Roybal, a retired Navy commander, was at the expo representing the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System Women Veterans Health Program.

“This event has always been well-organized to ensure Pass veterans are able to receive information on all of their benefits and employment opportunities,” Roybal said. “Hopefully the women” and their families who dropped by their booth “are well-informed of all their benefits, and that they understand that there is a Women Veterans Program available to help them navigate through the healthcare system.”

Joe Veca of Beaumont, a retired petty officer who served as an interior communications electrician on the repair ship USS Ajax, was stationed in Sasbo, Japan, and at the Naval Advanced Air Base in Corpus Christie, Texas. He serves as a docent at the Palm Springs Air Museum; is a member of the Air Space Forces Association (formerly AFA), and is also a Veterans Expo Committee member.

“I have no requirements for such services at this time” that were on display at the expo, but, at age 82, he appreciated the fact that the city accommodated a bigger space for elderly veterans who needed a bigger venue to maneuver around, as it had been an issue for the expo in the past.

Veca helped design the official program that was handed out for the event.

“I’m glad to be a participant in the committee and in the event, representing the two entities,” and is a proud veteran who notes that he “was in the service for five years and nine months, having extended my enlistment in order to enjoy shore duty.”