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!
In August 1969, nearly half a million Americans gathered at a farm in Upstate New York for what would become a defining moment of a generation: the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival. But Woodstock wasn’t really about music. In large part, it was about war. And the soundtrack it produced revealed the nation’s fault lines of protest, patriotism, grief, and defiance.
Join the Veterans Breakfast Club as we return to one of our most popular conversations: the music of the Vietnam War era. This time, we mark the 57th anniversary of Woodstock and add some new voices.
We’ll be joined by longtime VBC favorites Doug Bradley, Donn Nemchick, and Shaun Hall, along with two special guests who bring fresh perspective:
- Ron Farina, a U.S. Marine who lived the war these songs were trying to make sense of
- Mary Ellen Junda, a nationally recognized music historian, conductor, and educator whose work explores how song expresses social consciousness and binds communities together
Dr. Junda’s scholarship focuses on how music helps us process social change and conflict. She studies folk traditions and how music shapes as much as it represents the age.
We’ll talk about what troops in Vietnam actually listened to and what they knew about the changing music scene back home. We’ll also talk about Woodstock and what it meant.
Is China already a great power—or still becoming one? And if it is, what does that mean for the United States, the Navy, and the balance of power at sea?
Dr. Bernard “Bud” Cole is a 30-year U.S. Navy veteran, former warship commander, and one of America’s leading experts on China’s military and maritime strategy.
Bud Cole has spent a lifetime in the Pacific—at sea, in uniform, and in the classroom—studying the very questions now dominating headlines:
- Captain, U.S. Navy (Ret.) – Surface Warfare Officer with 30 years of service
- Commanded USS Rathburne (FF-1057) and a destroyer squadron
- Served in Vietnam as a naval gunfire liaison officer with Marines
- Former Professor of International History, National War College
- Author of landmark works on China and naval power, including The Great Wall at Sea
He has watched China’s rise not from afar, but up close—over decades—as its navy evolved into a global force challenging U.S. influence across the Indo-Pacific.
- What “great power” actually means—and whether China meets the test
- The rapid expansion of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)
- Why the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait matter so much
- How maritime power shapes global trade, energy, and security
- Where U.S.–China competition is heading—and what could go wrong
- Lessons from history about rising powers and established ones
This is not a cable news argument or a policy lecture. It’s a conversation with someone who has served, commanded, studied, and taught the realities of naval power and great-power competition.
About VBC LIVE:
The Veterans Breakfast Club brings veterans, families, and the public together in communities of listening—where stories, experience, and history help us better understand today’s world.
#China #USNavy #IndoPacific #Taiwan #SouthChinaSea #Geopolitics #MilitaryHistory #NavalStrategy #Veterans #GreatPower #VBC
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.
