MERCED — This year's Merced County Fair will pay homage to the area's veterans and service members by featuring their faces in a tribute, fair organizers said.

To highlight the 2013 theme -- "Thank You Veterans" -- planners are asking the community to submit photos of veterans from wars in Afghanistan, World War II or any other time period.

The photos will be used to create a video tribute that will be shown at the fair and later featured on its website, Facebook and YouTube pages.

Black and white or color photos will be accepted, organizers said. High resolution digital files are preferred, but are limited to five megabytes.

Original photographs will be accepted but will become property of the Merced County Fair.

Along with the photo, organizers are asking for the veteran or active duty service member's name, rank and branch of the military. Submissions should also include hometown, contact information and the name and hometown of family submitting photo.

A short paragraph, limited to 25 words or less, can be included to highlight the veteran's background.

The deadline for submitting photos is March 22 at 5 p.m. The 2013 Merced County Fair will run from June 12-16 at the county fairgrounds.

The five days will be dedicated to celebrating and honoring the county's veterans, which total 12,574, according to the Merced County Veterans' Services Office.

Photos can be sent to george@gomedia-group.com or mailed to the fairgrounds office, 900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Merced.

For more, call George Bertaina at (209) 723-1009 or Diane Conway at (209) 722-6514 or visit www.mercedcountyfair.com.

Reporter Ramona Giwargis can be reached at (209) 385-2477 or rgiwargis@mercedsunstar.com.