Area veterans will soon have free transportation to the doctor.

The Natchez-Adams County Veterans Service Office is joining with Lincoln and Franklin County offices to transport veterans to the G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center in Jackson.

A van will run from Natchez to Jackson with stops in Meadville and Brookhaven.

Free transportation to the center is vital, Service Officer Erle Drane said.

“Within a 50-mile radius of Natchez, there are 15,000 veterans, not counting Louisiana,” Drane said. “Many of them can’t afford to pay for a ride.”

Not all of those veterans would use the transport system, and Drane said he was in the process of finding out how many would.

“Our target group is in the thousands,” he said.

Drane said he has been working on the project since he started four years ago.

“The very first week, I started getting calls from veterans wanting a ride,” he said.

And the project is finally coming together. The counties pitched in money to buy the 12-passenger van. Most of the money for the van will be paid for by the Disabled American Veterans, a national organization.

Such a van usually retails from $28,000 to $38,000, Drane said, and counties and veteran service offices put together the necessary $12,500 co-pay.

The van is not a sure thing, Drane said, but things are looking very good. If all goes well, it should arrive in January.

Now, the three-county organization needs drivers. Already, a number of religious and civic organizations have stepped up and volunteered, but Drane said he could use as many as he could get.

“We have a long list of volunteers, but I’ll never get enough,” he said.

If the van ran twice a week, it would mean 104 rides a year, and they always need to have a backup driver, he said.

Drivers only have to have a driver’s license, insurance on their private vehicle, and attend orientation and a medical exam in Jackson.

Drane said he has more plans to improve the lives of Miss-Lou veterans in the near future.

“This is just scratching the surface,” he said. “My hope is for a veteran’s home in southwest Mississippi.”

Anyone interested in volunteering to drive should call (601) 445-8706.