The Veterans Breakfast Club (VBC) is the nation’s premier non-profit for connecting veterans with their fellow Americans through inspiring stories of service. We’re the place where veterans can share what they’ve seen and done—and where everyone can listen and learn.
UPCOMING EVENTS
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.
Join us at Sechler Law Firm’s Event Center in Warrendale, PA for a Veterans Breakfast Club storytelling breakfast on Friday, November 20, 2026, from 8:30–10:30am—a warm, come-as-you-are morning of coffee, buffet breakfast, and true stories of military service.
This year, every VBC event is now completely free and open to the public. That means no charge for breakfast. But we do need a reservation, so please let us know you’re coming. Then, take a seat among veterans, family members, and neighbors who want to listen, learn, and connect.
If you’ve never been to a VBC event, the format is simple: we gather for a casual meal, then veterans (of any era and any branch) share short, first-person stories—funny, tough, surprising, and often unforgettable. You don’t have to be a veteran to attend. And you don’t have to speak to belong. Some people come to tell a story they’ve carried for years; others come because they want to understand what service really means beyond the headlines.
Whether you’re a veteran, related to one, or simply grateful and curious, this is a morning to be in the same room together—good food, good company, and the kind of storytelling that sticks with you long after the plates are cleared.
RSVP by calling 412-623-9029 or emailing JoAnn@veteransbreakfastclub.org. Please make sure to RSVP for events at least two days in advance.
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The Veterans Breakfast Club (VBC) is the nation’s premier non-profit for connecting veterans with their fellow Americans through inspiring stories of service.
Our goal is to build a nation that understands and values the experiences of our military veterans so that every day is Veterans Day.
We do this by bringing together–in-person and online–men and women from all walks of life, all ages and eras, and every branch of service to talk about what they’ve seen and done. We want to hear how people’s military service has shaped them. “Every Veteran Has a Story” is our slogan. We want to hear every one.
We share the stories we hear in our weekly VBC Bulletin email newsletter and our quarterly VBC Magazine. We also record a weekly podcast, The Scuttlebutt, about military culture from the people who lived it.
We do all this because we believe the best way to thank a Veteran is to listen.
Listening is what the VBC has been doing for the past 15 years, when we held our first small event outside of Pittsburgh. Since then, we’ve held over 1,000 programs in-person and online and have welcomed over 20,000 different people at our events, Veterans and non-Veterans coming together to listen.
We value every veteran’s experience, no matter who they are or when or how they served. We’ve seen up close the power of storytelling, as the memories shared at VBC events connect, heal, educate, and inspire an ever-expanding circle of listeners.
THE VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT
Preserving veterans’ stories so that this living history is never forgotten.
We pair passionate VBC volunteers with military veterans for one-on-one oral history interviews over Zoom. If you are a veteran, or you know a veteran, who would be interested in sharing his or her story with us, let us know. If you are someone interested in conducting these interviews, please reach out!
At any given event, you might hear from the newest members of Space Force to a 101-year-old World War II veteran.
We’ve welcomed Tin Can Sailors and Montford Point Marines, Vietnam Sky Soldiers and Cold War intelligence officers. We’ve heard stories from the Horn of Africa to Antarctica, the Bering Sea to Diego Garcia, and all points in between.
LORAN Coast Guardsmen and Radar Station Airmen have told us about serving in some of the most remote places on earth.
Korean War veterans have borne witness to their “forgotten war.”
Other “forgotten warriors” shared their memories of Beirut, Grenada, and Mogadishu.
Some of the first women authorized for combat shared stories of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and of the Purple Hearts they received.
