Veterans Breakfast Club StoryFest 2026
The Veterans Breakfast Club brings its mission to the national stage for the first time with StoryFest 2026, a three-day beachside event where veterans, families, writers, speakers, filmmakers, and other storytellers will come together to share stories of service across generations.
We’ll gather in Santa Monica for conversations, performances, panels, and breakfasts that deepen understanding, bridge divides, and inspire through story.
We’ll tour the Battleship USS Iowa, hear from celebrated veteran authors, meet pioneers who broke the ground-combat barrier, and build community in the way the VBC does best—with a microphone, a room full of people, and stories no one else is telling.
This isn’t just a conference. It’s a community of listening. And you’re invited to be part of its very first year.
StoryFest 2026 is made possible through the generosity and partnership of Unlikely Collaborators, a Santa Monica–based foundation dedicated to using storytelling to bridge social divides and expand understanding between people with different lived experiences.
Unlikely Collaborators supports the Veterans Breakfast Club because of our shared belief in the power of honest, personal stories to bring people together. Their work centers on helping individuals see beyond assumptions and barriers that keep us disconnected. Our work centers on bridging the civilian–military divide by giving veterans a welcoming place to share their stories of service and homecoming.
Together, we’re creating StoryFest as a place where veterans, families, writers, artists, and the wider public can meet, listen, reflect, and build community, one story at a time.
Register for the in-person sessions here: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/cths2rg
StoryFest Highlights
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VBC Storytelling Breakfasts with local Los Angeles veterans
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Battleship USS Iowa storytelling breakfast on the fantail + ship tour
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Conversation with Le Ly Hayslip, Vietnamese-born author of When Heaven and Earth Changed Places
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Marine Corps Veterans Karl Marlantes and Elliot Ackerman in dialogue, two celebrated authors comparing their wars in Vietnam and Iraq and Afghanistan
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The Fight to Fight: The story behind the documentary film profiling the first women to integrate the U.S. Army Infantry and Armor Combat Units in 2016. The film is an act of service made by Naval Aviator Joy Bronson and retired Army colonel Ellen Haring.
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Interactive development workshop for Point & Shoot, a new immersive Marine Vietnam I Corps experience with Vietnam Marine veteran Ron Hathaway neuroscientist and video storyteller Dan Panfili
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One-man performance by playwright Cody LeRoy Wilson
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Cocktail receptions, heavy hors d’oeuvres, and group dinner
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Beachfront lodging at the Shore Hotel on the Santa Monica coast
DAY-BY-DAY SCHEDULE
DAY ONE — THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26 — Opening Day of StoryFest
9:00-11:00am – VBC Storytelling Breakfast
We kick off StoryFest the VBC way—with breakfast, a microphone, and a community of veterans, families, and friends. Half the room will be our traveling group; the other half will be Los Angeles–area veterans.
These breakfasts began in 2008 and remain the flagship of our mission: stories shared, connections made, laughter, a few tears, and a room transformed into a community.
11:00am-12:00pm – Veteran Interviews
We’ll pull aside veterans for one-on-one oral history interviews professionally captured, recorded, and shared.
12:00-1:30pm – POINT & SHOOT: Immersive Experience of Marines in I Corps Vietnam
Featuring Vietnam Marine Ron Hathaway and neuroscientist Dan Panfili of DualPlex LLC
About Ron Hathaway
Major Ron Hathaway’s career of 33 years in the US Marine Corps started in the enlisted ranks and concluded in the grade of Major. His initial role was that of an infantryman in Vietnam where he advanced from private to Master Sergeant. During this time he qualified as a Marine combat photographer. He was recognized for distinguished combat photography during intense battles with the Vietcong. He was shot down twice in helicopters operating near the Demilitarized Zone. His accom- plishments led to a promotion to Warrant Officer and thence to commissioning as a First Lieutenant. He served initially as a Photo Officer and then as Director of Marine Corps Camera for the entire Marine Corps. Major Hathaway was the first African American Marine to advance to that rank in the Combat Camera Career Field.
About Dan Panfili
Dan Panfili is a neuroscientist, full-stack developer, and founder of DualPlex LLC, specializing in psychophysics, cognitive science, virtual reality, photogrammetry, and biometrics. He trains teams in immersive technology and leads multidisciplinary research in next-generation simulation design. He is developing Point and Shoot, an immersive storytelling experience that reconstructs the lives of Marines in I Corps during the Vietnam War, guided by the photography and perspective of Marine combat photographer Ron Hathaway.
About This Session
Ron Hathaway will share his story of the Vietnam experience in I Corps. Dan Panfili will then demonstrate how he is transforming Ron’s story, and those of other Vietnam Service Members, into a new kind of immersive and interactive video experience.
1:30-2:30pm – Lunch, Socializing, Refresh
A chance to relax, refresh, recharge, and socialize with veterans and their friends and families.
2:30-3:30pm – Meet the Authors
Jerry Augustine, Vietnam Beyond (Dorrance Publishing)
James Blackwell, Gunners! B-29 Gunners in the Korean War (Deeds Publishing)
Jill Hunting, Finding Pete: Rediscovering the Brother I Lost in Vietnam (Blue Ear Books, revised edition forthcoming)
John McBrearty, Combat Essays: American History: A Veterans Perspective Vol. II (Independent Publishing)
Brian O’Hare, Surrender (Syracuse University Press)
Joe Peterburs, Through My Sights: The Serendipitous Life of a Mustang Pilot (Independently Published)
3:30-5:00pm – LE LY HAYSLIP: AN EVENING OF STORY AND DIALOGUE
About Le Ly Hayslip
Le Ly Hayslip is the author of When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, the iconic memoir of her childhood in wartime Vietnam and her journey to the United States. Founder of the East Meets West Foundation, she has dedicated her life to healing, reconciliation, and cultural understanding. Her dialogue with Vietnam veterans and families is one of the most powerful intergenerational conversations we host.
5:00-6:00pm – Cocktail and Heavy Hors D’oeuvres Reception
DAY TWO — FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27 — Battleship Iowa Day
8:30–10:30am – VBC Storytelling Breakfast on the Iowa Fantail
A storytelling event aboard one of America’s great warships, with Navy veterans—including former Iowa crew members—sharing sea stories on the ship’s open fantail with the Pacific breeze at our backs.
10:30pm–12:00pm – Tour of the USS Iowa
A deep dive into the ship’s World War II, Korea, and Cold War service.
12:30-2:00pm – Lunch, Socializing, Refresh
A chance to relax, refresh, recharge, and socialize with veterans and their friends and families.
2:00–4:00pm – THE FIGHT TO FIGHT: BREAKING THE BARRIER
Conversation with veterans/filmmakers former Naval Aviator Joy Bronson and Colonel (Ret.) Dr. Ellen Haring, and two of the first women to train for infantry combat. They’ll show clips from their upcoming documentary about the first women to integrate US Army Infantry and Armor combat units in 2016. Joining them will be two of the young women who smashed the brass ceiling, Wednesday Nelson and Hannah Rozzi.
About Joy Bronson
Joy Bronson served as a Naval Aviator from 1986 to 1993. During her service, women were prevented from flying combat aircraft or serving on combat ships. On her first at-sea deployment aboard an oiler, Joy served as the only woman in the aircraft carrier battle group. Later she flew helicopters from an ammunition supply ship providing combat support to the fleet during the Persian Gulf War.
About Ellen Haring
Ellen Haring entered West Point in 1980 shortly after it opened to women. During her time there, women were not well received. In a 30-year career, Ellen achieved the rank of Colonel. However, women were still restricted from ground combat units. In 2012, Ellen joined a suit against the Secretary of Defense for sex-based discrimination. In 2013, when the policy was removed, Ellen supported the first women who volunteered for ground combat units.
About This Session
This special conversation will explore:
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The fight to overturn the combat exclusion rule
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The lived experience of the first women in infantry and armor
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The cultural and institutional battles behind the policy
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Film insights and personal stories seldom heard in public
A short excerpt of The Fight to Fight will be shown.
4:00-5:30pm – Cocktail and Heavy Hors D’oeuvres Reception
DAY THREE — SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28 — Stories, Conversation & Performance
9:00-11:00am – VBC Storytelling Breakfast
We kick off StoryFest the VBC way—with breakfast, a microphone, and a community of veterans, families, and friends. Half the room will be our traveling group; the other half will be Los Angeles–area veterans.
These breakfasts began in 2008 and remain the flagship of our mission: stories shared, connections made, laughter, a few tears, and a room transformed into a community.
11:00am-12:00pm – Veteran Interviews
We’ll pull aside veterans for one-on-one oral history interviews professionally captured, recorded, and shared.
12:00-1:00pm – Lunch, Socializing, Refresh
A chance to relax, refresh, recharge, and socialize with veterans and their friends and families.
1:00-2:30pm – A MARINES’ DIALOGUE: KARL MARLANTES & ELLIOT ACKERMAN
About Karl Marlantes
Marine veteran and author of the acclaimed Vietnam War novel Matterhorn, Karl writes with rare depth about combat, trauma, leadership, and the search for meaning after war.
About Elliot Ackerman
A former Marine officer and National Book Award finalist, Elliot is best known for Green on Blue, a novel told from the perspective of an Afghan boy. His fiction and nonfiction explore the moral complexities of service in the post-9/11 era.
About This Session
Marlantes and Ackerman will interview each other—two Marines, two wars, two literary giants. Their dialogue will explore service, homecoming, trauma, healing, meaning, and the creative life. There is no conversation like this anywhere.
2:30-4:00pm – Meet the Authors
Karl Marlantes, Matterhorn (Grove Press/Grove Atlantic) and What It Is Like To Go To War (Grove Press/Grove Atlantic)
Elliot Ackerman, Sheepdogs (Penguin Press) and The Fifth Act: America’s End in Afghanistan (Penguin Press)
Josh Cannon, Fatal Second Helen (Blue Ear Books)
Michael Archer, A Patch of Ground (Hellgate Press)
4:00-5:30pm – Did My Grandfather Kill My Grandfather? One-Man Play by Cody LeRoy Wilson
A one-person play written and performed by Vietnamese American actor Cody LeRoy Wilson in which he explores his twin heritage, search for identity and the legacy of war across generations. Followed by audience talk-back.
About Cody LeRoy Wilson
A playwright exploring legacy and service, Cody’s newest one-man performance adapts the wartime stories of his two grandfathers into a moving theatrical meditation on memory, masculinity, and generational echo.
