At the Veterans Breakfast Club,
Stories Unite Us.
Check out our online & in-person veterans storytelling programs and see our full event schedule below. All are welcome to join us!
Join us at Seven Oaks Country Club in Beaver, PA for a Veterans Breakfast Club storytelling breakfast on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, from 8:30–10:30am—a warm, come-as-you-are morning of coffee, buffet breakfast, and true stories of military service.
This year, every VBC event is now completely free and open to the public. That means no charge for breakfast. But we do need a reservation, so please let us know you’re coming. Then, take a seat among veterans, family members, and neighbors who want to listen, learn, and connect.
If you’ve never been to a VBC event, the format is simple: we gather for a casual meal, then veterans (of any era and any branch) share short, first-person stories—funny, tough, surprising, and often unforgettable. You don’t have to be a veteran to attend. And you don’t have to speak to belong. Some people come to tell a story they’ve carried for years; others come because they want to understand what service really means beyond the headlines.
Whether you’re a veteran, related to one, or simply grateful and curious, this is a morning to be in the same room together—good food, good company, and the kind of storytelling that sticks with you long after the plates are cleared.
RSVP by calling 412-623-9029 or emailing betty@veteransbreakfastclub.org. Please make sure to RSVP for events at least two days in advance.
The VBC is partnering with the Central Pennsylvania WWII Roundtable to welcome WWII 3rd Armored Division veteran Walter Stitt on Thursday, June 4, 2026, at 7:00pm ET at American Legion Post 272 near Harrisburg, PA. This will be an in-person presentation at the post (5700 Linglestown Rd, Harrisburg, PA), open to the public. It will also be available on the Roundtable’s YouTube channel.
What was it like to fight the German Army from inside a burning tank and live to tell about it not once, but three times?
Join us for a remarkable Veterans Breakfast Club livestream featuring WWII Army veteran Walter “Boston” Stitt, a corporal in the 33rd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division, who served as both a Sherman tank loader and gunner in the European Theater.
Stitt’s story is one of survival, grit, and quiet courage. He entered combat in 1944 as a teenage replacement and fought across France and Belgium, including the brutal fighting of the Battle of the Bulge. Over the course of the war, he survived the destruction of three separate Sherman tanks, was wounded twice, and earned two Purple Hearts.
In one harrowing episode, his tank was hit, killing crew members and trapping him inside. He escaped through the driver’s hatch as the tank caught fire—only to come under enemy fire again moments later.
Stitt’s experience captures the reality of armored warfare: close quarters, limited visibility, and the constant threat of catastrophic destruction. As he moved from loader to gunner across successive crews, each new tank brought fresh danger—and fewer guarantees of survival.
After the war, Stitt returned home, became a Lutheran minister, and decades later began to reflect more fully on what he had lived through. His memoir, Surviving Three Shermans: With the 3rd Armored Division into the Battle of the Bulge, reveals a powerful contrast: the reassuring letters he sent home during the war—and the far more dangerous truth he kept to himself.
The VBC is grateful to the Central PA WWII Roundtable for sharing this event with us. We’re two communities built around listening, learning, and keeping these stories in circulation.
Join the Veterans Breakfast Club on Thursday, June 4 at 7:00pm ET for a special livestream conversation with historian Nicholas Evan Sarantakes about his acclaimed new book The Battle of Manila: Poisoned Victory in the Pacific War.
In February 1945, American and Japanese forces fought one of the most brutal urban battles of World War II: the month-long struggle for Manila. Often overshadowed by Iwo Jima and Okinawa, the Battle of Manila became the third-bloodiest city battle of the war, leaving much of the Philippine capital destroyed and more than 100,000 Filipino civilians dead. Sarantakes’ groundbreaking book examines the campaign from American, Japanese, and Filipino perspectives, revealing the chaos of house-to-house fighting, the role of Filipino guerrillas, and the devastating human cost of liberation. ()
Nicholas Evan Sarantakes is a professor at the U.S. Naval War College and an award-winning historian whose work explores the Pacific War, military strategy, and American foreign policy. His new study sheds light on a pivotal but often overlooked campaign that helped determine the final outcome of World War II in the Pacific.
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Join the Veterans Breakfast Club for a special screening of the new film Pressure, the gripping historical drama about the meteorologists, military planners, and impossible decisions behind the D-Day invasion of Normandy.
- Date: Saturday, June 6, 2026
- Location: Phoenix Theatres Chartiers Valley Luxury 14(1025 Washington Pike, Bridgeville, PA 15017)
- Admission: $15
- Seating is limited and advance registration is required.
- Registration: Register for the event here.
Set in the tense days leading up to June 6, 1944, Pressure explores one of the most consequential weather forecasts in modern history—the forecast that determined whether Operation Overlord would proceed or fail. The film brings to life the pressure, uncertainty, and human drama behind the Allied invasion that changed the course of World War II.
Before the film, VBC Executive Director and historian Todd DePastino and VBC host Glenn Flickinger will offer a brief historical introduction providing context on D-Day, the Allied planning effort, and the real-life figures portrayed in the movie. Following the screening, attendees are invited to stay for a 30–45 minute audience discussion and Q&A about the history behind the film, the accuracy of its portrayal, and the enduring significance of D-Day and military decision-making under extreme pressure.
Whether you’re a history enthusiast, veteran, film lover, or simply curious about the unseen story behind D-Day, this event offers a unique opportunity to experience Pressure with historical context and community conversation.
The Veterans Breakfast Club invites you to a Zoom-only screening of Mobile Riverine Force, followed by a live conversation with the film’s director, Jeff Arballo and Mobile Riverine Force veterans. Registration is required.
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The war in Vietnam is often remembered in jungles and rice paddies—but some of its fiercest fighting took place on the rivers.
Join us for a special Zoom-only screening and live discussion of Mobile Riverine Force, a powerful new documentary from filmmaker Jeff Arballo that brings to life one of the most unique—and least understood—fighting forces of the Vietnam War.
The Mobile Riverine Force was a rare experiment in American warfare: a joint U.S. Army and Navy strike force operating deep in the maze of rivers and canals of the Mekong Delta. Launched in 1967, it combined infantry, armored boats, floating bases, and helicopter support to take the fight directly to Viet Cong strongholds in terrain where roads were few and the enemy knew every bend in the water.
In Arballo’s film, that story is told not through narration alone, but through the voices of the men who were there—soldiers and sailors who lived, fought, and often died together in a kind of war unlike any other. Drawing on personal interviews, rare footage, and firsthand accounts, the documentary aims to preserve and honor the legacy of this Army–Navy brotherhood and the thousands who served—and sacrificed—in the Delta.
Following the screening, we’ll be joined live by filmmaker Jeff Arballo and veterans of the Mobile Riverine Force for a conversation about the film, the history behind it, and the lived experience of riverine warfare—what it was like to move through narrow canals under fire, to launch assaults from floating bases, and to serve in one of the most dangerous environments of the war.
This is not a lecture. It’s a chance to listen—to hear directly from those who were there and to ask questions about a chapter of Vietnam that still deserves wider understanding.
Important Details:
- This is a Zoom-only event (not livestreamed)
- Pre-registration is required to attend
- Attendees will receive viewing access and Zoom link upon registration
If you’ve ever wondered what the war looked like beyond the headlines—down in the brown water—this program offers a rare opportunity to see it and hear it from those who lived it.
Glenn Flickinger talks with Navy veteran, playwright, and director Harry Kantrovich the acclaimed drama Judgement at Nuremberg, the famous 1961 film starring Spencer Tracy and Burt Lancaster. Harry brings rare expertise to this discussion, having directed Judgement at Nuremberg on stage with the Prince William Little Theatre. His work brings this difficult history to life, challenging audiences to wrestle with the same ethical dilemmas confronted by postwar jurists.
In the aftermath of World War II, the world confronted not only the devastation of battle but the profound challenge of justice. The third Nuremberg trial — officially The United States of America vs. Josef Altstoetter et al., known as The Justice Case — examined the role of judges and legal officials in Nazi Germany. The trail raised a fundamental question: Can legal professionals be held accountable for wielding the law as an instrument of atrocity?
Drawing on both his military background and his deep engagement with dramatic storytelling, Harry offers insight into how Judgement at Nuremberg translates complex legal history into sharp human drama, why the story still matters today, and what the play reveals about law and collective responsibility.
About the Nuremberg Trials: Nuremberg was made up of thirteen separate trials held in the same German courtroom between 1945 and 1949. The first, the famous International Military Tribunal, tried the top Nazi leaders like Göring and Speer and established the principle that individuals could be held responsible for crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. After that came twelve additional trials that looked deeper into the machinery of the Third Reich, putting on trial doctors, jurists, industrialists, and SS commanders who contributed to the wartime horrors of Nazi Germany.
