Imagine a huge room, the size of a gymnasium, full of military personnel helping and administering care, and there was no natural disaster or crisis to speak of. Unless you count the high cost of health care.

Tuesday marked the first day for the Military Medical Mission that will run through Sunday, Aug. 12, helping thousands in the Selma and Dallas County community get check ups and treatment for dental, vision and basic medical needs.

The military did their initial mission in May, but due to overwhelming demand and the sense of need in this community they returned only three months later.

“We used to look out for our military when they went off to war and overseas, but now they are looking out for us,” said Marian Alexander, a patient coming in for vision care. “People are coming due to the economy because this is free.”

Alexander, along with several others in the patient waiting room, sang the praises of the military medical services.

“I heard a lot of feedback from the last [medical mission] that it was professional and they were courteous,” Alexander said. “This is just a social gathering of people helping people. The atmosphere and environment is not pushy, it’s just a nice gathering.”

Rev. Fennegan Bonner said he came to the Riverfront venue to receive dental care, and if this service were not here and due to high costs, he would not see a dentist for another several months.

“I just think it is great that these soldiers came out here and they took time from their lives to help people like us because you know they didn’t have to,” Bonner said. “I think this is a great way to help Selma and I could just compliment this all day. A lot of people like me can’t afford these services if we were to go to the doctor, but here this is free.”

The military personnel at the Riverfront were busy treating the hundreds of patients in line to see the dentist, and Major Donald Shingler, a dentist, said most of them need extractions.

“We are mostly treating pain and inflammation, which means we will do extractions,” Shingler said.

Shingler and the other dentists are keeping written tallies as to how many extractions they have done each. So far Shingler has done 40 extractions on the first day of the mission and he expects there to be more by the last day of the mission on Aug. 12.