Each week, in the city of Fort Thomas, if someone happens to pass the local coffee shop they can see a group of veterans who meet there. Their booming laughter and conversations can be heard before reaching the top of Highland Avenue. Before even making it into the coffee shop, the warm breeze mixed with scents from the brewing coffee can be noticed.
Linda Sloane, the wife of Korean war veteran Lonnie Slone organizes the coffee club for veterans to talk about their service each Friday at Fort Thomas Coffee (FTC). It is called “Veterans and Friends Coffee Club.”
“They do not like to miss either. Some come from Indiana, Ohio, and down in Kentucky. When family visits from Florida, they come for coffee, too….They have become family. And they are. They are our Coffee Club family!” Sloane said.
People from different backgrounds all gather together to create the perfect community. In that bunch of people, some individuals served our country many years ago. Each week at FTC a group of veterans, ranging from 10 people to over 70 at some points, meet and talk.
“We could have 25 or we could have 60 – 70 that meet and that’s why we try to stay outside most of the time.” said Todd Philips, who served in the Air Force from 1978 to 1981.
The group has vets who served in the Korean War, Vietnam War, Iraq War, and Afghanistan. The group includes men and women from different age groups, varying from 30 years old to 90 years old.
Every veteran who attends a coffee club has a story to tell in some capacity. Whether that is why they enlisted in the military, or personal stories about their time serving. Megan Burton attends a coffee club every Friday with her daughter. Burton was a Private First Class or PFC in the United States Army. She originally wanted to be a military officer but got injured during basic training.
Burton shared her reasoning on why she joined the coffee club, and why she continues to go every week. “It’s really cool to see different areas of the military come together and support each other,” she shared.
With the variation of the time served and what war or conflict, some of the veterans share experiences and others do not. In a lot of situations, the vets at the coffee club are the only ones who understand the feelings and experiences of the other veterans.
Jim Chaney, a US Navy vet from Vietnam, served from 1967 – 1968.
“It has helped me reconnect with people that have the same understanding as me. It keeps me out of the house and social, and it gets me connected with other members of the veterans community,” Chaney said.
