Join us for a FREE breakfast with Rocky Bleier at Fort Indiantown Gap on Tuesday, October 15 at 8:30am!

Pittsburgh Steeler and Vietnam Veteran Rocky Bleier will be at the Veterans Breakfast Club to to tell his awe-inspiring story of going to war, coming home, and fighting back to Super Bowl victory.

Breakfast will be served at 8:30am followed by a presentation by Rocky. This event is FREE but registration is required by October 8.

Registration is required for this event by Tuesday, October 8.

You must submit your name, as it appears on your Driver’s License or state ID, with your birthdate.

Questions? betty@veteransbreakfastclub.org or by calling 412-623-9029.

As of Nov. 1, 2023, Fort Indiantown Gap is a controlled-access installation. All visitors who do not have a Department of Defense Common Access Card (CAC), military ID or pre-screened compliant ID must be vetted through the National Crime Information Center Interstate Identification Index (NCIC-III).

Directions: I-81 to Exit 85 (Exit 85B NB) to Rt 934 (Fisher Ave) North. Stop at Main Control Point and show ID. Head north on Fisher Ave to Community Club.

Here is the Google Map location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/m5A9Vi2Y6YSkwu988

Most of us know the outlines of Rocky’s story: son of a Wisconsin tavern owner, all-state athlete in high school, National Champion at Notre Dame, and VERY late round draft pick (417th overall) for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1968.

Rocky makes the team, plays sparingly, then receives his draft notice.

Five months later, he’s in Vietnam, Company C, 4th Battalion (Light), 196th Light Infantry Brigade. On August 20, while on patrol about 60km southwest of Danang, his platoon gets ambushed. A enemy bullet rips into his left thigh. Then, an exploding grenade shreds his lower right leg and foot. Rocky’s war in Vietnam is over.

But his fight had just begun. Doctors reassured Rocky he’s be able to lead a normal life—except for football. Playing again was out of the question.

Out of the blue, he receives a postcard from legendary Steelers owner.

“Rock – the team’s not doing well. We need you. Art Rooney.”

That short note kickstarted a grueling rehabilitation that, in truth, took years. He couldn’t walk without pain and returned to the Steelers woefully underweight.

But he never gave up and ever so slowly climbed the ladder of football success.

1970: works out with the Steelers.

1971: makes the roster.

1972: plays every game.

1974: earns a starting position in the backfield, over five years after being wounded in a Vietnamese rice paddy.

Even without the four Super Bowls that followed, the Rocky Bleier story would be the most inspiring tale of grit in the history of sports.

But those championships made Rocky a household name and introduced millions of Americans to the qualities shaping a hero: commitment, determination, optimism, and humility.

Rocky Bleier has them all and shares what he’s learned from a hard life at war and in football with us.

RSVP by calling 412-623-9029 or emailing betty@veteransbreakfastclub.org.

Thank you to our event sponsors, Forge Health and UPMC for Life!