Anyone with an armed forces service history, from territorial reserves to combat veterans, was invited to the clinic and among those who attended was former reserve artilleryman and great-grandfather Melvyn Marshall, whose birth date came up in a 1964 military service ballot.
"He was 20 years old," his wife Aileen said.
"We got engaged on a Friday night and he left on Monday’s train."
A shearer and rural professional, Gnr Marshall found himself in Waiouru for 12 weeks’ basic training before placement and corps training as a Gunner with the 3rd field artillery.
"It was more or less compulsory.
"They replaced the 25-pounders [cannons] with howitzers during my time."
For the next three years he and thousands of others had to schedule life around weekend training in Dunedin and two-week summer field exercises around Tekapo.
"We have different schemes based on the type of service you were involved in, and people understand what we can do and [the] offer is based on need rather than availability," Mr Shepherd said.
"Say you’re struggling with the price of new glasses or hearing aids — we might be able to offer assistance.
"We advocate and liaise with agencies like Winz [Work and Income] and Age Concern, so we can help our service people navigate what’s available for their needs."
Opening times for local RSAs and the national network can be found at www.rsa.org.nz.
