What: Veterans Breakfast Club Celebration
When: Saturday, November 8, 2025 | 8:00am – 12:00pm
Where: Sheraton Valley Forge | 480 North Gulph Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406
Who: Open to the Public | Veterans, Families & Friends Welcome
How much: $10 per person advanced / $15 at the door
Join us for a morning of good food and storytelling. Keynote speaker is Rear Admiral (Ret.) Karen Flaherty-Oxler 38-year Navy Veteran now serving as Director of the VA Philadelphia Health Care System. Leading up to the keynote, we’ll invite veterans and family members to share their stories of service.
A Veterans Information Fair before and after breakfast will include veterans organizations, nonprofits, and service providers with information and materials for veterans and their families.
Registration and $10 payment is required for this event. Register here.
Rear Admiral (Ret.) Karen Flaherty-Oxler
Karen Flaherty-Oxler’s remarkable career spans nearly four decades in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps, from her commissioning in 1974 to her retirement as a two-star admiral. Over 38 years of active duty and reserve service, she rose through the ranks to hold some of the most senior positions in Navy Medicine. Her leadership posts included commanding officer of multiple Reserve hospital and fleet hospital units—deploying in support of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm—and serving as the 22nd Director of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps and Deputy Chief for Wounded, Ill, and Injured at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. She culminated her Navy service as Deputy Surgeon General of Navy Medicine before retiring in 2012.
Following her military career, Admiral Flaherty-Oxler brought her experience and dedication to the Department of Veterans Affairs, where she now serves as Director of the VA Philadelphia Health Care System. In this role, she oversees one of the region’s largest VA medical centers, managing care for tens of thousands of veterans while ensuring the highest standards of clinical quality, safety, and compassion. Her work reflects the same commitment to service that defined her Navy career—helping today’s veterans access the care and dignity they have earned.
We’re proud to have her join the Veterans Breakfast Club to share her reflections on leadership, healing, and the enduring bonds among those who serve.
Schedule:
8:00 am – Doors open, coffee & mingling
8:30 am – Breakfast served
9:00 am – 10:30 am – Storytelling and keynote
10:30 am – 12:00 pm – Veteran Information Fair
We’ll also host over 20 resource tables from Veterans Service Organizations offering information, services, and giveaways. Come to listen and learn, connect and heal, and say thank you to those who’ve served.
Interested in sponsoring this event? Check out our sponsorship information:
Whether you’re a veteran, a family member, or someone who simply wants to hear real stories from extraordinary lives, you’re welcome to pull up a chair and join our community of listening.
RSVPs and questions: betty@veteransbreakfastclub.org or by calling 412-623-9029
Presented by the Veterans Breakfast Club, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit bringing veterans together with the public to share stories since 2008.
The Veterans Breakfast Club has been bringing these people and more together for face-to-face storytelling events since 2008. People come to listen and learn, connect and heal, and say thank you to those who’ve served.
