Salute Our Vets and Pass the Hash Browns: Veterans Day Breakfast, Story Telling Come to Campus

Veterans from the western Pennsylvania region, from Punxsutawney to Uniontown, will gather at Duquesne University on Friday, Nov. 11, for one of the largest Veterans Day breakfast salutes in the Commonwealth and listen to stories from the area’s World War II vets.

This year, for the first time, the University and Shepherd’s Heart Fellowship are formally joining Friends of Danang, a group of Vietnam veterans and friends who have carried out humanitarian work in Vietnam, as hosts of the annual Veterans Day breakfast.

The Friends of Danang started the event 13 years ago with a patriotic fundraising mission, in the presence of 32 veterans, family and friends. This year, upward of 600 veterans, from World War II through today’s struggles in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their friends are expected at the event. It continues to serve the dual purposes of honoring veterans and helping to raise money to support three vet-related causes: the Friends of Danang, Shepherd’s Heart and a new veterans-related endowment at Duquesne.

“The people who have been to one breakfast tend to come back,” said Tony Accamando of Eighty-Four, an alumnus and founding member of Friends of Danang.  “Because Duquesne University extended the offer to host the event, we’re hoping to involve students so that young people can mix with the vets and share in their experience of giving.”

The breakfast will be served in the Union Ballroom with check-in at 7:30 a.m. and the program beginning at 8 a.m. The keynote will be presented by the Rev. Michael D. Wurschmidt, an Anglican priest who is the founder and pastor of Shepherd’s Heart Fellowship in Uptown, which provides help and hope to Pittsburgh’s homeless veterans.

At 10 a.m., 60 Pittsburgh area World War II veterans will share their stories. They have been brought together by historian and author Todd DePastino, executive director of the Veterans Breakfast Club, which provides a monthly forum for veterans to share their stories of service in war and peace. As the number of World War II veterans dwindles, DePastino is hoping to preserve their experiences by recording this story-telling session.

Duquesne’s share of proceeds will be used as seed money to establish an endowed veterans student resource fund, which will support veteran students’ non-tuition needs such as books, housing and other living expenses, said Don Accamando, military program director for the School of Leadership and Professional Advancement and Tony’s brother. The University works with a number of veterans educational programs, but this special funding will help to fill financial gaps and ease other financial obligations experienced by the veteran community at Duquesne.

The Friends of Danang, cofounded by Tony Accamando and alumnus George D’Angelo, came to life in 1997, born after a return trip to Vietnam so the two and some of their compatriots could see the country at peace. “People who went were so moved they wanted to continue their work, so we started a Friends of Danang breakfast,” D’Angelo explained.

Initially the group of only 14 people raised more than $50,000 to build a well-used and appreciated school. Since then, this extraordinarily dedicated group of just 30 members has raised more than $350,000 for schools, dental care, a women’s health care clinic, a bridge and other humanitarian causes in Vietnam.

“I like that we can mix these two arenas: helping children in Vietnam and helping veterans here,” said Deb Tulac, a Friends of Danang volunteer whose father and son served in the Navy.

“Vietnam had a tremendous impact on our society, whether you served or you didn’t serve; more than 58,000 lost their lives. It was the first TV war,” Tony Accamando said. “We felt that whatever we did could resonate with them.”

D’Angelo felt and saw what happened when Vietnam vets returned to the country they had known in much different circumstances decades earlier. “A lot of Vietnam vets have been back with us over the years,” he said. “It was an opportunity for people; it had a healing aspect. Every one of us was overwhelmed with emotion.”

Amazingly, when they visited a war-years orphanage that had been converted to a retired veterans’ home, D’Angelo said, “there wasn’t any animosity at all, and some were Vietcong troops.”

“We’ve been blessed to have this experience,” Tony Accamando said, “and frankly, it’s the spirit of Duquesne encouraging us to do this.”