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!
Maurice L. “Chipp” Naylon IV served nine years as a U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer. In 2014–2015, he deployed to Afghanistan as a combat advisor and operations officer working with soldiers from the Republic of Georgia assigned to help defend Bagram Airfield. By then, America had been at war in Afghanistan for more than thirteen years, and Washington was preparing to declare an “end to combat operations.” On the ground, however, Naylon and his Marines were still leaving the wire, hunting for rocket teams and bomb makers, encountering IEDs, and trying to protect one of the largest American bases in the country.
Naylon tells that story in his book The New Ministry of Truth: Combat Advisors in Afghanistan and America’s Great Betrayal. It is less a conventional combat memoir than an account of the widening gap he saw between policy and reality—and of what that gap meant for the servicemembers ordered to carry out the mission.
Naylon’s deployment also offers an unusual window into the complicated coalition war in Afghanistan. His small team of Marines advised a Georgian infantry battalion whose soldiers had their own reasons for being there, while working alongside Afghan National Army forces and operating under an American chain of command. Success depended not simply on firepower but on relationships, trust, cultural understanding, intelligence, and rules of engagement that Naylon increasingly believed prevented his Marines from confronting threats before those threats confronted them.
One phrase captures his larger criticism of the war: “We weren’t in Afghanistan for 20 years. We were in Afghanistan for one year, 20 times.” Units rotated in and out, knowledge disappeared, missions changed, and the people arriving often had to rediscover lessons learned by those who had come before them.
Yet Naylon’s story isn’t simply one of anger or disillusionment. He remains intensely proud of the Marines he served with and of the Georgian soldiers they trained and advised. During seven months in Afghanistan, he watched their combined force develop from struggling with basic patrols into conducting complex nighttime operations with Afghan and American forces. That pride in what servicemembers accomplished at the tactical level exists alongside a much harder question about the larger war: What did those accomplishments ultimately add up to?
Join the Veterans Breakfast Club for a candid conversation with Chipp Naylon about advising foreign troops, defending Bagram, restrictive rules of engagement, leadership and loyalty, the frustrations of coalition warfare, and the strange experience of fighting a war that officials back home were declaring over. We’ll also talk about the fall of Afghanistan in 2021 and the question that runs throughout Naylon’s book and the experiences of so many Afghanistan veterans: What did our service there mean?
Join the Veterans Breakfast Club for a FREE VBC breakfast at the Cranberry Elks Lodge #2249 on Tuesday, October 27 at 8:30am. Please RSVP for this free breakfast event by calling 412-623-9029 or emailing Joann@veteransbreakfastclub.org .
Everyone is welcome, veterans and non-veterans alike, and breakfast will be provided free of charge courtesy of the Veterans Breakfast Club and our hosts at the Cranberry Elks Lodge #2249.
We’ll have our usual fast-moving and wide-ranging program with plenty of participation, stories, laughter, and conversation. Veterans of different eras and branches of service will share memories and reflections from their time in uniform—and often from life before and after service as well.
Breakfast begins at 8:30am. At 9:00am, we start the program. For the next 90 minutes, veterans share slices of their service experience. You never know what you’re going to hear, and there are always new faces and new stories around the table.
Please RSVP by calling 412-623-9029 or emailing joann@veteransbreakfastclub.org.
Event Details:
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
8:30am–10:30am
Cranberry Elks Lodge #2249
20720 Route 19
Cranberry Township, PA 16066
Our Veterans Breakfast Club’s Open Conversation gathers veterans, military family members, history buffs, and interested people of all sorts together in a Zoom room without an agenda. We then talk for 90 minutes.
Once a month, we dispense with the scheduled guest and prepared program and turn the microphone over to the people who show up. Bring a story, a question, a memory, something you’ve been thinking about, or simply your curiosity. You never quite know where the conversation will go.
A question about a veteran’s hat might lead to a discussion about coming home from Vietnam and what “thank you for your service” means. A conversation about flying drones can become a debate about technology, combat, and moral responsibility. Someone might introduce a veteran we’ve never met before, pull out an old photograph, remember a friend who has died, recommend a book, ask how things were done in the military 50 years ago, or raise a question that sends the whole group down an unexpected historical rabbit hole.
There is no featured guest and no predetermined topic. We all create the program as we go. Veterans from different branches, generations, ranks, specialties, and eras compare experiences and discover where they overlap—and where they don’t. Non-veterans ask the questions they’ve always wanted to ask. Sometimes the conversation is serious. Sometimes it’s funny. Often one story triggers another, and we wind up someplace none of us expected when the evening began.
You don’t need to be a veteran to participate, and you don’t need to have a story ready. Some people come to talk. Others come to ask questions. And some simply come to listen.
Join us Monday, November 2 at 7:00pm ET on Zoom, Facebook, or YouTube and be part of the conversation!
Join us in Bethel Park, PA, for a FREE VBC storytelling event where you’ll meet a remarkable collection of people, each with a story to tell.
Our breakfast location in Bethel Park, PA, is our largest, where the group can reach over 250 people. Our veteran attendees range from WWII and Korean War through the Post-9/11 era. The program is fast-moving and wide-ranging with lots of participation. Everyone is welcome to join us.
We meet at Christ United Methodist Church (44 Highland Rd, Bethel Park 15102) in a large hall that also serves as a gym. We show photos of veterans on the three screens at the front and interact with as many veterans as we can. You’ll walk in, pick up your name badge, 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, veterans share slices 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 joann@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 event sponsors: Jefferson Memorial Funeral Home and UPMC for Life!
Join us for another Veterans Breakfast Club storytelling event at Pitt-Greensburg. A FREE buffet breakfast will be served at 8:30am followed by veterans sharing stories with Todd DePastino emceeing.
There’s no charge for the event, but you must RSVP to: joann@veteransbreakfastclub.org or by calling 412-623-9029.
The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg welcomes the Veterans Breakfast Club (VBC) to the Hempfield Township campus on Saturday, November 1. Doors open at 8:00am at the Hempfield Room (Chambers Hall, University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, 150 Finoli Drive, Greensburg, PA 15601), and breakfast will be served at 8:30am. Thanks to the support of sponsors, the event is free, and breakfast is included. Please register by emailing betty@veteransbreakfastclub.org or calling 412-623-9029.
You do not need to be a military member or a veteran to attend. All are welcome.
The VBC believes that every veteran has a story, no who they are—or when or how they served. There is power in storytelling. Stories connect, heal, educate, and inspire. Stories bridge the divides that separate us and benefit both the tellers and the listeners. The Veterans Breakfast Club harnesses the power of storytelling to build a nation that understands and values the experiences of our military veterans
RSVP by calling 412-623-9029 or emailing joann@veteransbreakfastclub.org.
Thank you to our event sponsor, UPMC for Life!
Join the Veterans Breakfast Club and the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown for a special screening of a documentary preserving the voices and memories of 17 military veterans from the Youngstown area.
Produced by the Veterans Breakfast Club in partnership with the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation, the film brings together interviews with veterans who served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War, and the Gulf War. Their experiences span generations and every branch of the Armed Forces.
Some recall combat and hardship. Others share memories of friendship, humor, and the ordinary routines of military life. Together, their stories offer a remarkable portrait of military service and a window into Youngstown’s living history.
The veterans interviewed were residents and participants in the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation’s senior living and care programs, including Heritage Manor Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation, Levy Gardens Assisted Living, and Adult Day Services at Heritage Manor.
At the Veterans Breakfast Club, we believe every veteran has a story worth hearing. This documentary reminds us what we can discover when we take the time to ask veterans about their lives—and then listen.
Event Details
- Date: Monday, November 9, 2026
- Time: 1:00–3:00 PM
- Location: JCC Multi-Purpose Room, 505 Gypsy Lane, Youngstown, OH 44504
- Admission: Donations will be accepted to help offset the cost of the program.
- Ages: 18 and older
Registration is requested by Friday, November 6. Email bwilson@jewishyoungstown.org to register.
Presented as part of the Jewish Film Series in partnership with the Veterans Breakfast Club.
Thank you to the Youngstown JCC and the Thomases Family Endowment for Supporting this Event!
