VBC programs connect and heal,
educate and inspire.
Everyone is always welcome.

The Veterans Breakfast Club (VBC) is the nation’s premier non-profit for connecting veterans with their fellow Americans through inspiring stories of service.

Our goal is to build a nation that understands and values the experiences of our military veterans so that every day is Veterans Day.

We do this by bringing together–in-person and online–men and women from all walks of life, all ages and eras, and every branch of service to talk about what they’ve seen and done. We want to hear how people’s military service has shaped them. “Every Veteran Has a Story” is our slogan. We want to hear every one.

We share the stories we hear in our weekly VBC Bulletin email newsletter and our quarterly VBC Magazine. We also record a weekly podcast, The Scuttlebutt, about military culture from the people who lived it.

We do all this because we believe the best way to thank a Veteran is to listen.

Listening is what the VBC has been doing for the past 15 years, when we held our first small event outside of Pittsburgh. Since then, we’ve held over 1,000 programs in-person and online and have welcomed over 20,000 different people at our events, Veterans and non-Veterans coming together to listen.

We value every veteran’s experience, no matter who they are or when or how they served. We’ve seen up close the power of storytelling, as the memories shared at VBC events connect, heal, educate, and inspire an ever-expanding circle of listeners.

At any given event, you might hear from the newest members of Space Force to a 101-year-old World War II veteran.

We’ve welcomed Tin Can Sailors and Montford Point Marines, Vietnam Sky Soldiers and Cold War intelligence officers. We’ve heard stories from the Horn of Africa to Antarctica, the Bering Sea to Diego Garcia, and all points in between.

LORAN Coast Guardsmen and Radar Station Airmen have told us about serving in some of the most remote places on earth.

Korean War veterans have borne witness to their “forgotten war.”

Other “forgotten warriors” shared their memories of Beirut, Grenada, and Mogadishu.

Some of the first women authorized for combat shared stories of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and of the Purple Hearts they received.

Join us at our events and help keep these stories alive.

All you need to do is listen.

Every Veteran Has a Story.
Hear Them Now.

WHAT WE BELIEVE
OUR PROGRAMS
OUR MISSION

UPCOMING EVENTS

IN-PERSON Veterans Breakfast Club Sewickley, Christ Church Grove Farm | Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Date: November 29, 2023
Time: 8:30 am - 10:30 am
Location: Christ Church at Grove Farm (249 Duff Rd, Sewickley, PA 15143)
All Events | In-Person Events
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Who wears jump boots and parachutes from a sleigh? You guessed it! Santa Claus will join us at Christ Church Grove Farm on Wednesday, November 29 at 8:30am to tell us who has been good and not-so-good this year.

Santa asks that you bring unwrapped toys for children to the breakfast to distribute this Christmas season.

We’ll also have our usual fascinating, enjoyable, and poignant Veterans Breakfast Club in-person breakfast program.

You’ll walk in, pick up your name badge, pay $15 if you plan to eat (no cost for those who don’t), and meet others who are there to hear and share the stories. Breakfast is served at 8:30am. At 9:00am, we start the program. For the next 90 minutes, we circulate the room with the microphone and have veterans share a slice of their service experience. You never know what you’re going to hear, and there’s always new people with new memories to offer.

RSVP by calling 412-623-9029 or emailing betty@veteransbreakfastclub.org. Please make sure to RSVP for events at least two days in advance. We understand that your schedule can change quickly, but advance notice of attendance always helps us and our venues prepare the program. Thank you!

Thank you to our sponsors!

 

 

The Search for POW/MIAs in Vietnam on VBC Happy Hour @ 7pm ET

Date: December 4, 2023
Time: 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Location: Zoom, Facebook, YouTube
All Events | Online Events | VBC Happy Hour
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Bob Connor’s journey to locate the remains of Vietnamese soldiers from the Vietnam War is a poignant tale of reconciliation, humanity, and the power of individual efforts. Join us on December 4 to talk with Bob about the transformative impact of his mission, as well as the broader context of U.S. veterans collaborating with their former enemies for a shared humanitarian cause.

Bob Connor, a U.S. Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War, embarked on an unexpected mission triggered by a seemingly casual Google search. While assisting his granddaughter with a school project, he stumbled upon a photo of Bien Hoa Airport from 1968. In a heartfelt post, he described a mass grave of approximately 150 Vietnamese soldiers who died during the Tet Offensive. This post set off a chain of events that would lead to an unprecedented collaboration between American veterans and their Vietnamese counterparts.

The response came in the form of an email from Che Trung Hieu and Colonel Mai Xuan Chien, seeking Connor’s help to locate the mass grave. Driven by a desire to rectify the past and facilitate reconciliation, Connor returned to Vietnam in March 2016. His meeting with Colonel Chien and the subsequent collaboration with Colonel Martin E. Strones led to the discovery of the mass grave at Bien Hoa Airport, marking a significant breakthrough in the search for missing soldiers.

Colonel Mai Xuan Chien emphasizes the importance of connecting with U.S. veterans and the Department of Defense to obtain information and documents crucial to finding mass graves. The success in locating graves at various sites, including Bien Hoa Airport, Tan Son Nhat Airport, and provinces like Dong Nai, Tay Ninh, Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong, and Binh Dinh, showcases the positive outcomes of this collaboration.

Bob Connor’s personal dedication to this cause goes beyond a quest for closure; it becomes a symbol of humanity transcending borders and former enmities. The collaboration between American and Vietnamese veterans, driven by a shared goal of repatriating fallen soldiers, not only brings solace to grieving families but also signifies the evolving relationship between the two nations.

In the closing paragraphs, the summary reflects on the profound impact of these efforts, emphasizing the role of individual veterans as catalysts for healing and reconciliation. The reburial ceremony in Vietnam becomes a powerful symbol of closure and a testament to the enduring spirit of cooperation between former adversaries.

Bob Connor’s journey, catalyzed by a simple Google search, emerges as a transformative narrative of compassion, understanding, and the pursuit of peace, echoing the sentiments expressed by Spencer Matteson: “To the families of the martyrs, all I can say is I’m sorry. I’m sorry for all the families that lost loved ones (Vietnamese and American), in a war that could have been avoided.”

Thank you to Tobacco Free Adagio Health for sponsoring this event!

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PAST EVENTS

VBC Happy Hour welcomes Ralph White to the show to talk about his successful effort to save nearly the entire staff of the Saigon branch...
Vet-A-Thon closes with Giselle Futtrell, Executive Director of the National Veterans Art Museum, shedding light on the museum’s mission and activities. The museum, dedicated to...
Dave Holland returns to Vet-A-Thon to take us around the sights, smells, and stories of Guadalcanal, site of the fierce WWII Battle. Dave, a seasoned...
Glenn Flickinger speaks with author David Chrisinger, who walked in Ernie Pyle’s footsteps and wrote about what he discovered. David talks about the legacy of...
Canada’s Greatest History Teacher hosts a conversation with 100-year-old WWII veteran Nick Janicki, who served with the 1st Battalion Canadian Scottish Regiment in Europe. Conscripted...
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The mission of the Veterans Breakfast Club is to create communities of listening around veterans and their stories to ensure that this living history will never be forgotten.  We believe that through our work, people will be connected, educated, healed, and inspired.

INTRODUCING THE VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT

Preserving veterans’ stories so that this living history is never forgotten.

We pair passionate VBC volunteers with military veterans for one-on-one oral history interviews over Zoom. If you are a veteran, or you know a veteran, who would be interested in sharing his or her story with us, let us know. If you are someone interested in conducting these interviews, please reach out!

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Watch and listen to the Scuttlebutt, the VBC’s podcast dedicated to understanding military culture. Hosted by Shaun Hall, Director of Programming. New episode every Monday at 6AM ET.

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