Veterans around the state looking to be compensated for their disability claims can't, at least not efficiently, because of the enormous backlog within Veteran Affairs.

On Saturday, the Texas Veterans Commission stepped in locally to make that process a little less painstaking.

"It's a long process," said William Luellman, an Army veteran who recently served in Iraq.

Luellman is in unusually high spirits despite his troubles. A retired Army staff sergeant, he's been waiting since 2007 for his VA claim to be processed.

"It's almost like the old people, you know, the ones that went in '03, it's almost like we're being forgotten," said Luellman.

He is just one of thousands in the state -- almost 65,000 to be exact. Veterans Affairs is overwhelmed with the number of claims coming in.

"Backlog is very bad and partially because we have so many veterans coming out with disabilities," said Cruz Montemayor, chief administrative officer at the Texas Veterans Commission.

So the Texas Veteran's Commission is doing what they can to help. The governor's office gave the agency funding to hire more counselors -- many of them retired VA employees, who know exactly what to look for to move the claims process forward. Events like Saturday's hope to help as many veterans as soon as possible. The VA is so backlogged that many cases may not be completed until late 2013 or in 2014.

"So what we're trying to do is to cut that at least in half, if not more, by getting the cases ready to rate, getting them to the front of the line," said Montemayor.

That day, can't come soon enough for Luellman, and many just like him. On Saturday, he took a few steps forward, but isn't getting his hopes up yet.

"Just another waiting game. And once they get the paperwork done, hopefully they'll settle my case," said Luellman.

Saturday's services included checking the status of pending claims, collecting evidence for cases identified as missing documentation and identifying all additional development required for claims processing. All were provided free of charge.