NEW LOCATION! Join us for a picnic breakfast at the Outdoor Pavilion at the Ohio Township Community Park (325 Nicholson Rd, Sewickley, PA 15143) at 9:00am.

101st Airborne Division veteran Rick Weber calls the VBC “The Best Show in Town,” and when I look at the photo above, I understand why.

On the left is Kathy Silvia speaking at our breakfast at Christ Church at Grove Farm back on May 8, 2019. Kathy was a member of the first class at West Point to admit women, and she told the story of what that pioneering experience was like. She also spoke about a long Army career in artillery and logistics around the world in Crete, NATO Europe, South Korea, and Panama before serving in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. She now serves on the Board of the Military Women’s Memorial as a Pennsylvania ambassador.

To Kathy’s right is Harry Van Riper, cover boy of the Summer 2023 issue of VBC Magazine. Harry’s wife Susan leads a hardworking team of volunteers setting up, cooking, and serving breakfast at the church for the VBC. Harry lost his left arm to an NVA rocket on August 19, 1968 while serving in one of the few mechanized units in Vietnam,  the 1^st Battalion, 5^th Infantry Regiment attached to the 25^thInfantry Division headquartered in Cu Chi. Harry has told us plainly at our events that “losing my arm was the best thing that ever happened to me.” You have to hear him explain it to understand why.

Finally, speaking on right is 101-year-old Guy Prestia. If you look closely at his bolo tie, you can see the yellow thunderbird of the 45th Infantry Division. That division was one of the first to reach Europe through North Africa to  Sicily and Italian mainland. He participated in four beach invasions, including Anzio and southern France, and endured 511 days of combat and more than 63,000 casualties. Guy seems to remember every detail of his service, and he faithfully attends our events at Christ Church at Grove Farm

Join us to meet Kathy, Harry, Guy and others on Wednesday, June 21 at 8:30am. You’ll walk in, pick up your name badge, pay $15 if you plan to eat (no cost for those who don’t), 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, we circulate the room with the microphone and have veterans share a slice 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 Sponsor!

I often say, “You never know what you’re gonna hear” at the Veterans Breakfast Club. But I truly didn’t expect to hear Jim Phelps’ harrowing story of survival when he came to our event at Christ Church in Bethel Park in August of 2019.

“It was like being at the top of a building when you feel an elevator drop. I knew this was not going to be good.” That was how Jim described crashing aboard a C-130 rescue plane on February 5, 1969, while trying to save the crew of an overturned Japanese freighter.

Storms rumbled over the South China Sea, creating high swells and dangerous flying conditions. Jim’s plane descended down to far below the minimum on a rescue mission, crashed, and burst into flames. Jim was the only survivor.

You can listen to his emotional retelling of his brush with death here. 

The volunteers who set up, cook, and serve breakfast at Christ Church in Bethel Park are always warm, welcoming, and hardworking. Our last breakfast there saw over 250 people come to listen to veterans’ stories and thank those who served. Everyone is invited to attend. The event begins at 8:30am on June 27.

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!

Sponsor this Event!

Our first Penn Hills breakfast was back in 2009, and it’s been a lively location ever since with an unusual number of World War II veterans still attending regularly. Take 99-year-old Mike Scuro, above left, for example. The WWII veteran leads us in the National Anthem every event and always offer a little war story, such as the one about going AWOL during Basic Training to sneak back home for his mother’s cooking. Or Dominick Carchidi, above right, who joined the Navy at age 16 and become a Navy Diver on submarine rescue in the North Atlantic aboard the USS Falcon (ASR-2) and USS Penguin (ASR-12). Dominic has told stories of his dives and rescues and also of the first thing he did after the war, which was to buy a Model A Ford for $80 and drive it cross country to California at 25 mph.

Join us in Penn Hills and perhaps meet Mike and Dominick at our next event there on July 7 at 10:00am.

It’s a new location and also a new format. This will be our first event at Beulah Presbyterian Church (2500 McCrady Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15235) right off the Parkway in Churchill.

Instead of an early breakfast, we’re doing light refreshments–coffee and Danish–at no charge. The event begins at 10:00am with food service and socializing, and then we’ll start our program at 10:30am and continue the storytelling to 12:00pm noon.

As always, everyone is welcome, and you don’t need to be a veteran to attend.

RSVP by calling 412-623-9029 or emailing betty@veteransbreakfastclub.org. And let us know if you have any questions!

Please consider sponsoring this event!