At the Veterans Breakfast Club,
Stories Unite Us.
Check out our upcoming in-person veterans storytelling event schedule below. All are welcome to join us!
Join us in Houston, PA, for a FREE VBC storytelling event where you’ll meet a remarkable collection of people, each with a story to tell.
Our breakfast in Houston PA, is free and everyone is welcome to join us. Our veteran attendees can range from WWII and Korean War through the Post-9/11 era. The program is fast-moving and wide-ranging with lots of participation.
We meet at the Chartiers Township Community Center (2013 Community Drive Houston, PA 15342) We show photos of veterans on the screen 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 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 event sponsor: UPMC for Life
Join us for a FREE VBC breakfast at Ridgecrest Senior Living in McCandless on Wednesday, September 16, at 8:30am. Please RSVP for this free breakfast event by calling 412-623-9029 or emailing betty@veteransbreakfastclub.org.
Everyone is welcome, veterans and non-veterans, and the breakfast will be provided for free courtesy of Ridgecrest Senior Living.
We plan our usual fast-moving and wide-ranging program with lots of participation. We’ll have veterans of various ages and branches of service sharing their stories of service.
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 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 event sponsors: UPMC For Life, Dignity Memorial Veterans Benefits, Veterans Place, and Commonwealth Hospice!
Book Launch: In Sha Allah, If God Wills It
The Real-Life Story of an Afghan Combat Interpreter
Join the Veterans Breakfast Club for a special afternoon with author and
Vietnam veteran Marine Ron Farina as we celebrate the release
of his new book, In Sha Allah, If God Wills It.
2:00–3:30 PM
Veterans Breakfast Club Welcome Center
5850 Centre Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Admission is free. Registration is strongly requested because space is limited.
Walk-ins will be welcome only if space permits.
About In Sha Allah, If God Wills It
In Sha Allah, If God Wills It tells the remarkable true story of
Abdul Atah Wahedi, an Afghan combat interpreter who spent years
serving alongside American troops in Afghanistan.
Abdul grew up in the centuries-old village of Mata in Afghanistan’s Panjshir
Valley, in a family shaped by war, displacement, faith, and survival. He would
eventually become a combat interpreter working alongside U.S. forces—putting
himself in extraordinary danger as the voice and ears of American soldiers on
the battlefield.
Wounded twice while serving with Americans, Abdul became known to the Taliban as
the “Voice of the Infidel.” His service made him a target, not
only during the war but afterward.
As the United States began withdrawing from Afghanistan, Abdul faced a new
battle: getting his wife and children to safety. With the Taliban hunting him,
the American embassy disrupted by COVID, and his family’s Special Immigrant
Visas nearing expiration, a small network of Americans raced against time to
help the family escape.
Ron Farina follows Abdul from childhood in the Hindu Kush through war, marriage,
fatherhood, battlefield service, and finally the desperate journey to a new life
in America. The result is not simply a war story. It is a story about
loyalty, family, faith, obligation, and what America owes the people who
risked their lives beside American troops.
“A moving biography about family and sacrifice in war.”
Get a Signed Copy at the Book Launch
The VBC has 50 copies of In Sha Allah, If God Wills It
available for the event for $25 each.
Pre-order your copy now and Ron Farina will sign it for you at the
September 19 book launch.
Quantities are limited, so advance purchase is recommended if you would like
to be certain a copy is waiting for you.
Book purchase is optional. Admission to the event is free.
About Ron Farina
Ron Farina is a Vietnam veteran Marine, author, and longtime advocate
for veterans and military families. His books have focused especially
on the experiences of those whose lives have been shaped by America’s
post-9/11 wars.
His previous books include Out of the Shadows: Voices of American Women
Soldiers, Who Will Have My Back, and
Sacrifice, The Final Chapter. His writing has received awards from
the American Society of Professional Journalists and other organizations.
In 2025, he was inducted into the Connecticut Veterans Hall of
Fame for his writing and advocacy on behalf of veterans and their
families.
At the VBC Welcome Center, Ron will talk about how he came to tell Abdul’s
story, what he learned about the role of Afghan interpreters in the war, and
the difficult promises America made to those who served alongside U.S.
forces. There will be time for questions, conversation, and book signing.
At the Event
Ron will discuss the book and Abdul’s story, followed by audience questions
and conversation. Copies of the book will be available for purchase while
supplies last, and Ron will sign books after the program.
Refreshments will be served.
VBC Welcome Center Parking Information
In Sha Allah, If God Wills It is published by Casemate.
Learn more about the book.
We look forward to our next breakfast at Monroeville United Methodist Church, whose pastor, Rev. Kelly J. Smith, has kindly embraced our mission by having the church pay for everyone’s breakfast!
We’ll meet at Monroeville United Methodist Church (219 Center Rd, Monroeville, PA 15146) in their fellowship hall. We’ll show photos of veterans on a screen and hear from as many veterans as possible during the program.
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 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 Point Pleasant for supporting this event!
Pittsburgh Veterans Day Breakfast
Wednesday, November 11, 2026 | 8:00–10:00 AM
Duquesne University Student Union Ballroom | Pittsburgh, PA
Join hundreds of veterans, family members, friends, and members of the community for the 28th Annual Pittsburgh Veterans Day Breakfast, the largest Veterans Day breakfast in Pennsylvania.
For the first time, the Veterans Breakfast Club (VBC) and Veterans Leadership Program (VLP) are joining together to host this great Pittsburgh tradition.
The morning will include breakfast, veterans’ stories, special guests and speakers, fellowship, and a Veterans Resource Fair connecting veterans and their families with organizations and services from across the region.
Veterans, family members, and members of the public are all welcome.
Veterans Day is a day to honor those who served, but this breakfast has always been about more than ceremony. It is about bringing veterans together, hearing their stories, connecting people with one another, and strengthening Pittsburgh’s veterans community.
This year, proceeds from the breakfast will benefit the Veterans Breakfast Club and Veterans Leadership Program, two Pittsburgh organizations dedicated to serving veterans and building stronger communities around them.
Tickets
Tickets have been reduced in price this year to $20 to encourage as many veterans, families, and community members as possible to attend. Register here.
A Pittsburgh Veterans Day Tradition Since 1998
The Pittsburgh Veterans Day Breakfast began on Veterans Day in 1998, when Vietnam veterans Tony Accamando, T.J. McGarvey, Dan Pulz, George D’Angelo and others with the newly formed Friends of Danang gathered supporters at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center. Their immediate purpose was charitable: Friends of Danang was raising money for humanitarian work in Vietnam, including projects benefiting children, schools, and communities in and around Danang.
That first breakfast started an annual tradition that grew into the largest Veterans Day events in Pennsylvania. Over the years, thousands have come to the event not simply for breakfast, but for camaraderie, recognition, and a chance to support good work in the veterans community.
The breakfast also became increasingly collaborative. Friends of Danang generously opened the event to other organizations and causes, including the Veterans Leadership Program, Shepherd’s Heart Veterans Home, the Duquesne University veterans scholarship program, World Vision International, and later Life Changing Service Dogs for Veterans.
The Veterans Breakfast Club has been part of this tradition for the past 15 years. In 2011, the VBC started holding a WWII veterans’ storytelling event at the breakfast. VBC Executive Director Todd DePastino has served as the event emcee for the past several years.
This year, for the first time, the Veterans Breakfast Club and Veterans Leadership Program are partnering to host the Pittsburgh Veterans Day Breakfast, with proceeds benefiting both organizations.
We are grateful to Tony Accamando and Friends of Danang for creating this remarkable Pittsburgh institution and for sharing it so generously over the years. VBC and VLP are proud to carry it forward.
Our goal is simple: keep the tradition, broaden the community, and make Veterans Day a morning when veterans from every generation can come together to share stories, find resources, connect with community and celebrate their service.
More Than a Breakfast: Veterans Resource Fair
We also want the 2026 Pittsburgh Veterans Day Breakfast to be a place where veterans can find useful information and make connections.
Organizations serving veterans and military families will be invited to participate in a Veterans Resource Fair at Duquesne University. Veterans will be able to meet representatives from organizations working in areas such as health care, benefits, employment, housing, education, legal assistance, family services, recreation, and other veteran programs.
VBC has hosted similar large veterans resource gatherings in the past, and we want to bring that same spirit to Veterans Day: one room, hundreds of veterans, and many of the organizations that serve them gathered in one place.
Parking
Convenient parking is available at the Forbes Avenue Garage, directly across from the Student Union.
Forbes Avenue Garage
1180 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15219 (click for directions)
Sponsorship Opportunities
2026 Pittsburgh Veterans Day Breakfast Sponsorships
