JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Volunteer lawyers from Detroit with Project Salute have begun their efforts to help the nation's veterans get the government benefits they were promised.

Organizers with Project Salute said the response they received after just one day in Jacksonville was overwhelming. Hundreds of area veterans showed up to the Mary Singleton Senior Center to get help.

Veterans flocked to the Project Salute mobile law office hoping the students and professors with Project Salute would tell a different story. Many of the veterans have heard the word "denied" for years.

The law professors and law students were only able to get to some of the vets, and told Channel 4 that two more law professors were flying down to the River City to join in the efforts on Wednesday.

Seymour Groover, a Vietnam veteran, brought medical records dating back 40 years to be looked at by Project Salute volunteers. Groover said when he was 55 years old a doctor told him he was disabled. Ten years later, Groover continues to fight for benefits he said he deserves because of injuries he suffered when he was drafted.

"I was hurt in boot camp when I got knocked into a big pit. I messed up my foot and hip in Vietnam," Groover said.

Also at Project Salute on Tuesday were twins Bennie and Lennie Forsman. The pair served for years in the Navy in the same countries with the same duties until Bennie decided to get out in 1991. Lennie stayed in the military and served in Operation Desert Storm. Since then, he said, he has suffered from respiratory problems that plague him night and day.

"He said, 'What you have is allergies.' Well, I had 22 years in the military -- never had any problems. Then, I come up with this," Lennie Forsman said.

The work has just begun for the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law group that said it wants to train lawyers in town to take over helping veterans when they leave.

"We need the attorneys to come out and be trained. We have the vets. We need the lawyers. We need to help these folks who need the help," said Tammy Kudialis of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

Project Salute will be in Jacksonville through Thursday. The bus was at the Mary Singleton Senior Center at 150 E. First St. for an information session from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday and will be open again for benefit interviews from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

The mobile office will move to Jacksonville Area Legal Aid at 126 W. Adams St. on Thursday for attorney training.

The Jacksonville stop is one of 64 scheduled over nine months. During its inaugural stop -- in San Antonio, Texas -- 225 veterans registered for assistance.

To assist in the group's mission, the school is asking for the financial support and the help of local attorneys.

For more information, visit Project Salute or call 888-836-5294.