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ESCANABA -- Free legal help rolled into Escanaba for low-income veterans.

The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law parked a mobile office at AMVETS Post 123 as part of their Project Salute.  The project provides law students with the unique opportunity to leave the confines of their classroom, travel, and get one-on-one contact with real clients.

"It gives us hands-on experience working with clients and helping veterans who served our country get benefits that they deserve," said student Stephanie Austin.

"Those different perspectives you gain from talking to different people across the state; it's really a valuable experience," said student Peter Schneider.

This is the third year that Project Salute has traveled the state, educating veterans of their legal benefit rights, while simultaneously educating law students.

"The main goal of the clinic obviously is to train law students," said Assistant Professor Margaret Costello.  "They're basically handling the case.  Anything an attorney would do on the case, they're doing under the supervision of an attorney."

To date, Project Salute has counseled over 700 veterans throughout Michigan and several hundred more outside the state.

With over 700,000 veterans living in Michigan alone, Project Salute has their work cut out for them.  This week on their tour of the U.P., they're making stops in Iron Mountain, Houghton, and Marquette.

For information on when and where Project Salute will be near you, visit http://www.law.udmercy.edu/project_salute/whereweregoing.php.