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 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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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.
We welcome retired Army General and bestselling author Mark Hertling for a special VBC LIVE conversation about his powerful new memoir, If I Don’t Return: A Father’s Wartime Journal. Drawing from a journal he kept during Operation Desert Storm, Hertling reflects on combat, leadership, fear, family, and the deeply personal thoughts he recorded for his young sons in case he never made it home.
More than a war memoir, If I Don’t Return offers a rare window into the mind of a soldier-father confronting uncertainty in wartime while trying to pass on lessons about courage, character, service, and humanity. Join us for a moving discussion about military life, memory, leadership under pressure, and the enduring bond between veterans and their families.
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Join us for a remarkable story of survival, courage, chance, and resilience as Doug Cervi shares the life of Holocaust survivor David Wisnia (1926–2021), whose experiences spanned some of the darkest and most consequential events of the twentieth century.
Born into a Jewish family in Warsaw, Poland, David was a gifted singer whose voice would help save his life after he was deported to Auschwitz at age sixteen. There, amid unimaginable brutality, he survived by performing for Nazi guards and fellow prisoners. He endured the horrors of Auschwitz, a death march across Europe, and a daring escape before being liberated by soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division. Remarkably, the teenager who emerged from the camps went on to serve as an interpreter with the American Army as it advanced into Germany.
Years later, David built a new life in the United States, becoming a cantor, educator, and tireless witness to history. His story gained international attention through the memoir One Voice, Two Lives, which recounts both his wartime experiences and a long-hidden chapter of love and survival in Auschwitz.
Doug Cervi, who worked closely with David on preserving and sharing his story, returns to the Veterans Breakfast Club to recount David’s extraordinary journey and reflect on the responsibility of keeping eyewitness history alive after the witnesses themselves are gone.
This program offers a powerful firsthand window into the Holocaust, liberation, and the enduring strength of the human spirit.
Join the Veterans Breakfast Club for a special VBC LIVE program on Monday, June 22 at 7pm ET exploring the history and human experience of the Berlin Airlift—one of the defining moments of the early Cold War.
In June 1948, the Soviet Union blockaded West Berlin, cutting off food, fuel, and supplies to more than two million civilians. Rather than abandon the city or risk war, the United States and its allies launched a massive airlift—flying around the clock to keep Berlin alive. For nearly a year, aircraft landed every few minutes, delivering coal, food, and hope to a city under siege.
This program brings together those who lived this history—and those working to preserve it.
We’re honored to welcome Bibi LeBlanc, a native of West Berlin and founder of Voices of the Berlin Airlift, an oral history project gathering memories from Berliners, veterans, and families connected to the Airlift. Bibi is racing to capture these stories while firsthand voices are still with us—and invites others to contribute.
We’ll also hear from Dagmar Weiss Snodgrass, a Berlin child who lived through the Airlift and paid tribute to famed Airlift pilot Gail Halvorsen, Uncle Wiggly Wings: My Love and Admiration for Berlin’s Candy Bomber.
Also joining us is Ralph Dionne, who served at Rhein-Main Air Base in 1948 as both an aircraft mechanic and later a flight engineer on C-54 transport aircraft. Ralph completed 74 missions into Berlin and logged 300 flight hours, offering a rare, firsthand view of the precision and discipline required to sustain the Airlift from both the ground and the cockpit.
Joining them is Denise Halvorsen Williams, daughter of Colonel Gail S. Halvorsen—the “Candy Bomber” whose small parachutes of sweets brought joy to Berlin’s children. Through her work with the Candy Bomber Foundation, Denise carries forward a legacy of compassion that reminds us how small acts can resonate across generations.
We also invite anyone with personal or family connections to the Berlin Airlift—pilots, ground crew, Berlin civilians, or descendants—to join the conversation and share their stories.
#BerlinAirlift #ColdWarHistory #VeteransStories #OralHistory #CandyBomber #BerlinHistory #USAirForceHistory #MilitaryHistory #WWIIAftermath #VBC #VeteransBreakfastClub
