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!
Where were you on September 11, 2001?
Most of us who were alive that day remember exactly where we were when he saw images of smoke pouring from the North Tower of the World Trade Center. We remember the second plane striking the South Tower live on television. And then, 56 minutes later, that same tower collapsed, followed by its North twin at 10:28am. Meanwhile, another hijacked airplane hit the Pentagon, and reports came in of a fourth crashing into a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought back. We also remember the sickening feelings, the grief, and the sense that everything had changed in an instant.
Join the Veterans Breakfast Club for an open conversation marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11. We’ll remember the day itself, talk about the wars that followed, and reflect on how the events of September 11 shaped a generation of Americans in uniform and those who loved them. Veterans, military family members, first responders, and civilians all have stories to tell and perspectives worth hearing.
This program will be what the Veterans Breakfast Club does best: gathering people to listen, remember, ask questions, and share experiences.
Everyone is welcome, whether you served or not. Bring your memories, your stories, and your questions as we reflect together on the day that changed so much—and the twenty-five years that followed.
Join the Veterans Breakfast Club, the Military Writers Society of America, and Blue Ear Books for a five-part Zoom-only workshop designed to help veterans, family members, military supporters, and aspiring writers tell their stories.
Whether you’re writing a memoir, family history, article, short story, or novel, experienced authors and workshop facilitators will guide you through character, setting, dialogue, plot, and the craft of storytelling. No prior writing experience is required.
The workshop meets on September 8, September 22, October 6, and October 20, with a special concluding session on October 27 led by publisher Ethan Casey of Blue Ear Books and editor Lisa Carrington Firmin. The final session will focus on editing, publishing, and next steps for writers who wish to share their work with a wider audience.
Participants are encouraged to attend all sessions, as the workshop is designed to build toward a completed story. Through writing exercises, discussion, examples, and feedback, attendees will develop the skills and confidence to tell meaningful stories drawn from military service, family history, community experiences, or imagination.
We hope that by the end of the series, participants will have developed a story they may wish to publish with the Veterans Breakfast Club or elsewhere.
SESSION SCHEDULE
Session 1 – Finding Your Story
Tuesday, September 8 • 7:00–8:30 pm ET
Instructor: Bob Doerr
The opening session introduces the fundamentals of storytelling and helps participants identify the stories they want to tell. Discussion will focus on point of view, narrative choices, and the challenges of transforming memories and ideas into compelling stories. Participants will complete writing exercises and examine examples of effective and ineffective storytelling.
Session 2 – Creating Memorable Characters and Settings
Tuesday, September 22 • 7:00–8:30 pm ET
Instructor: Ruth Crocker
Every story needs people and places readers can believe in. This session explores how writers develop characters, establish setting, and create vivid worlds that support their stories. Participants will complete guided exercises and discuss examples from published works.
Session 3 – Dialogue, Narration, and Story Structure
Tuesday, October 6 • 7:00–8:30 pm ET
Instructor: Valerie Ormond
This session examines the mechanics of storytelling: narration, dialogue, plot, and story arc. Participants will learn techniques for moving stories forward, creating tension, and engaging readers. Writing exercises and discussion will help participants apply these concepts to their own projects.
Session 4 – Participant Readings and Workshop Discussion
Tuesday, October 20 • 7:00–8:30 pm ET
Moderated by Shaun Hall with Valerie Ormond, Bob Doerr, Ethan Casey, and Lisa Carrington Firmin
Participants will have the opportunity to share excerpts from their work (up to five minutes each), receive encouragement and feedback, and discuss next steps in their writing journeys. This session serves as both a workshop and celebration of the stories developed during the series.
Session 5 – Editing, Publishing, and Next Steps
Tuesday, October 27 • 7:00–8:30 pm ET
Instructors: Ethan Casey and Lisa Carrington Firmin
What happens after you’ve written your story? This concluding session explores editing, revision, publishing options, and practical advice for writers seeking to share their work with readers. Participants will learn about traditional publishing, independent publishing, collaborative projects, and opportunities to contribute stories to future Veterans Breakfast Club publications.
INSTRUCTORS
Bob Doerr
Award-winning author Bob Doerr grew up in a military family, graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy, and served in the Air Force specializing in criminal investigations and counterintelligence. A full-time author with more than twenty published books, he is a former Military Writers Society of America Author of the Year and recipient of numerous literary awards. His novels draw upon decades of experience in intelligence, security, and international affairs.
Ruth Crocker
Ruth W. Crocker is an author, editor, playwright, and former healthcare executive. Her essays have appeared in numerous publications including The Gettysburg Review, The Saturday Evening Post, and O-Dark-Thirty. Her memoir, Those Who Remain: Remembrance and Reunion After War, received multiple national awards and was presented to President Barack Obama at the White House. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Bennington College and a PhD from the University of Connecticut.
Valerie Ormond
Valerie Ormond retired after a twenty-five-year career as a naval intelligence officer and founded Veteran Writing Services, LLC. She is the author of the award-winning Believing in Horses series and has published fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and journalism in a wide variety of venues. She serves as Vice President of the Military Writers Society of America and is a frequent speaker on writing and publishing.
Ethan Casey
Ethan Casey is founder and publisher of Blue Ear Books. Through publishing, editing, and mentoring writers, he has helped authors bring stories of military service, international affairs, and personal experience to wider audiences. He will lead the workshop’s concluding session on editing, publishing, and next steps for writers.
Lisa Carrington Firmin
Lisa Carrington Firmin is co-editor of the Veterans Book Initiative at Blue Ear Books. An experienced editor and publishing professional, she works with writers to refine manuscripts and prepare them for publication. She will discuss editing, revision, and publication opportunities available to emerging writers.
ABOUT OUR PARTNERS
Military Writers Society of America (MWSA)
The Military Writers Society of America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping military service members, veterans, their families, and supporters record history, explore the complexities of military life, and use writing as a form of education, reflection, and healing. Since 2015, MWSA has conducted writing workshops across the country and has supported hundreds of writers in sharing their stories.
Learn more: https://mwsadispatches.com
Blue Ear Books is an independent publishing organization dedicated to helping writers develop, refine, and publish meaningful work. Through editing, mentoring, and publishing initiatives, Blue Ear Books helps authors bring important stories to readers.
Learn more: https://blueearbooks.com
Few American generals inspire stronger opinions than George S. Patton. To some, he was the Army’s greatest battlefield commander. To others, he was reckless, egotistical, and impossible to control. Eighty years after World War II, is there still anything new to learn about one of America’s most studied military leaders?
Join us as military historian Kevin Hymel, author of the acclaimed three-volume Patton’s War: An American General’s Combat Leadership, takes us beyond the familiar stories and Hollywood image to reveal the man behind the legend. Drawing on Patton’s original handwritten diaries, personal letters, newly available archival sources, and hundreds of firsthand accounts, Hymel offers a fresh portrait of the controversial commander whose aggressive leadership shaped the Allied campaign across Europe.
Rather than celebrating or condemning Patton, Hymel examines him as he really was: a brilliant battlefield commander, a demanding and often inspiring leader, a complex human being whose extraordinary strengths were matched by very real flaws. Along the way, we’ll revisit famous moments from North Africa, Sicily, France, the Battle of the Bulge, and the final drive into Germany while separating enduring myths from the historical record.
Whether you’re a lifelong student of Patton or simply fascinated by the personalities who shaped World War II, this program offers a chance to reconsider one of the war’s most consequential—and controversial—American generals through the eyes of one of today’s leading military historians.
Millions of viewers know NCIS as one of television’s most successful dramas. But what is the real Naval Criminal Investigative Service—and how closely does the show reflect it?
Join the Veterans Breakfast Club for a fascinating conversation with Leon Carroll Jr., Marine veteran, retired NCIS Special Agent, bestselling author, and the longtime technical advisor to the hit CBS series NCIS. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, Carroll spent more than twenty years investigating crimes involving the Navy and Marine Corps before helping bring the world of military criminal investigations to television audiences around the globe.
Leon will share stories from his career, explain what NCIS agents actually do, and pull back the curtain on more than two decades behind the scenes of one of America’s most enduring TV shows. How much of NCIS is real? Which details matter most? What does Hollywood get right—and what can never quite capture the reality of military investigations?
We’ll also discuss Carroll’s work as co-author, with actor Mark Harmon, of the bestselling books Ghosts of Honolulu and Ghosts of Sicily, which uncover remarkable true stories of Naval Intelligence, espionage, and World War II.
Whether you’re a veteran, an NCIS fan, a military history enthusiast, or simply curious about the intersection of military service, criminal investigation, and popular culture, this promises to be an engaging evening of stories and conversation.
Bring your questions—and join us live.
Join the Veterans Breakfast Club for a special Book Release Edition of VBC Live celebrating the publication of the new, updated edition of Consequences: An Intelligence Officer’s War by former Air Force counterintelligence officer David Grantham.
This event also marks the launch of VBC Books, the Veterans Breakfast Club’s new publishing imprint created in partnership with Blue Ear Books. We couldn’t imagine a more fitting first title.
In 2006, David Grantham entered Iraq as a young counterintelligence officer with the elite Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI). Fresh out of training, he found himself operating in Kuwait, Afghanistan, and eventually at Camp Bucca—the sprawling American detention facility that would later become known as the incubator of ISIS. His mission was not to fight on the front lines, but to gather intelligence, recruit sources, protect American forces, and understand an increasingly chaotic battlefield where every decision carried unforeseen consequences.
Written as narrative nonfiction, Consequences offers a rare, ground-level view of intelligence work during the Iraq War. Rather than focusing on secret gadgets or Hollywood-style espionage, Grantham reveals the patient, uncertain, and deeply human work of earning trust, weighing evidence, and making decisions when lives—and history—hang in the balance. Reviewers have praised the book for opening a window into a world few Americans ever see and for exploring how choices made during wartime can echo for decades.
During this special conversation, David will discuss:
- What counterintelligence officers actually do in wartime
- The hidden intelligence battle behind the Iraq War
- Camp Bucca, Iran’s growing influence, and the rise of ISIS
- The burden of making life-and-death decisions with incomplete information
- Why he decided to tell this story—and what he learned by writing it
We’ll also celebrate the beginning of VBC Books and discuss why preserving veterans’ stories in print remains one of the Veterans Breakfast Club’s most important missions.
Whether you’re interested in military history, intelligence, the Global War on Terror, or simply a remarkable personal story told with honesty and humility, this promises to be an unforgettable evening.
Come help us celebrate the launch of a new book—and a new chapter in the Veterans Breakfast Club’s mission to preserve, publish, and share veterans’ stories.
One of the oldest surviving U.S. Army buildings in America is the Hessian Powder Magazine in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. This sturdy limestone structure was built during the darkest days of the American Revolution to store the gunpowder and ammunition that helped sustain George Washington’s army. But who built it? And why has it long been known as the “Hessian” Powder Magazine?
Join us for a special America 250 program featuring a screening of the new 40-minute documentary The Hessian Powder Magazine, followed by a live conversation with historian Jack Leighow of the U.S. Army Heritage & Education Center and Army University, who helped lead the years-long research behind the film.
Drawing on newly uncovered documents, architectural analysis, ground-penetrating radar, and archaeological excavations, the documentary follows the remarkable effort to solve a centuries-old historical puzzle. The investigation confirms that the building is indeed the Revolutionary War powder magazine constructed in 1777 as part of the sprawling military depot at Carlisle, one of the Continental Army’s most important centers for manufacturing weapons, ammunition, and military supplies. It also reveals compelling evidence that Hessian prisoners captured at Trenton likely helped build the magazine, giving new meaning to a name that had long been dismissed as little more than local legend.
The story illuminates the enormous logistical effort behind American independence, the workshops, foundries, carpenters, blacksmiths, laborers, and military planners who supplied Washington’s army when victory depended as much on production as battlefield success. It also reminds us that history is never finished. Even after 250 years, archaeology, archival research, and careful scholarship continue to reshape what we know about the Revolution.
Following the film, Jack Leighow will discuss the investigation, answer questions, and explain how this remarkable survivor of the Revolutionary War is helping us better understand the nation’s founding as America approaches its 250th anniversary.
