BUTLER TWP — The Veterans Breakfast Club event held Monday morning at American Legion Post 778 in Lyndora drew nearly 100 area veterans, many of whom recalled their military service as if it happened yesterday.

The club has been in existence in Beaver and Allegheny counties for a decade, but made its first stop in Butler County on Monday.

After a hot breakfast funded by the Lyndora and Butler American Legion posts, the club's executive director, Todd DePastino, traversed the room with a microphone to ask veterans about their military experiences.

Photos of some of the veterans were projected onto a wall while they shared their stories.

Bob Meyers of Butler, who served on a submarine during the Vietnam War, said he joined the U.S. Navy because he wanted to scuba dive in the ocean like the lead character in the popular 1960s TV drama “Sea Hunt.”

“They put me on a submarine instead,” Meyers said.

He said sailors were required to qualify for assignment on a sub by learning every system on board.

“Everyone had to know how to do everything,” Meyers said.

At the end of the lengthy training, the candidate would sit down with Navy officers to demonstrate his knowledge of the sub. He would then be accepted or rejected by the officers.

If accepted, the sailor would get his “dolphins,” or a pin signifying his service on a sub.

Meyers, a quartermaster, said his crew navigated underneath a Russian aircraft carrier and trailed a Russian sub for an extended period during his various three-month stints under water.

Meyers saw the notice for the breakfast in the Eagle and decided to check it out. He appreciated the forum, which allowed all the veterans to hear stories from all branches of the armed forces.

He was struck by the stories he heard at the event and the fact that while he was in the sub, soldiers in the Army were diving into foxholes to avoid enemy fire.

“It was interesting to learn what the different veterans went through,” Meyers said. “I would definitely come back.”

Lauren DelRicci, the club's director of development and communications, said 100 people was an astounding turnout for the first breakfast in the county.

“We heard there are a lot of veterans in Butler County, and we were not let down,” she said.

She said the Veterans Breakfast Club holds 60 free breakfasts annually at 30 locations in Allegheny and Beaver counties.

DelRicci said due to the veterans' interest in the event and the impressive military history of the county, the club will hold two or three events in 2019.

“The Butler County veterans had fresh stories,” she said. “You can tell there's a lot of community pride.”

Stan Zielinski of Butler Township, who was drafted into the Army in 1966 and spent seven months in Vung Tau, Vietnam, decided to check out the Veterans Breakfast Club and was delighted to run into many friends there.

“We listened to some good stories and some, well, bad stories,” Zielinski said. “I really enjoyed it.”

Dave Sherman and Tom Edwards, two of six Butler friends who joined the Marine Corps together in September 1965, appreciated the delicious breakfast as well as the stories from the other veterans.

“You learn things from being around other veterans,” Sherman said. “It was time well spent.”

Sherman spent a year in Red Beach, near the Da Nang Air Base in Vietnam. He said the six friends were together during basic training at Parris Island, S.C., then were split up when they reported for duty at different bases.

“I had never shot a gun when I joined the service, and I haven't shot any since I got back,” Sherman said.

Ron Collett, the veteran outreach coordinator for Veterans Affairs in Butler, manned a table containing various pamphlets and information.

“Western Pennsylvania has a rich history of military service and sometimes that service was profound,” Collett said. “The veterans here shared their stories and their brotherhood, so I think it's very important that these events take place.”

Collett attends many veteran-related events and he always marvels at the specifics vets can recall from their time in the military, which was often several decades ago.

“There's a common theme and that's the vividness of the memories,” he said.

Allegheny County resident Warren Goss, a veteran of World War II, has been to dozens of Veterans Breakfasts over the past 10 years. He enjoyed the event in Butler on Monday, especially the war stories.

“I was very impressed,” Goss said. “The people of Butler are great. That's all I can say.”

More information on the club is available at www.veteransbreakfastclub.com.