One table. Every Friday at 11 a.m.
What started as a simple idea to get veterans together for coffee and kolaches has quietly grown into something none of them expected. The group — now known as the “Kolache Crew” — meets weekly at a local spot, and the sessions keep getting longer.
The weekly gathering was Larry’s idea. A pilot who spent 28 years in the Air Force flying fighters, tankers, bombers, and helicopters, Larry Smith wanted veterans to have a place to meet and connect. He posted the idea online — though, as group member Patrick Walsh was quick to point out, the credit goes to someone else.
“Well, actually, we have to give Larry’s wife credit,” Walsh said, drawing laughter from the table. “She’s the one that posted it.”
Walsh, a Vietnam veteran, said he saw the post on Nextdoor and felt drawn to it. He had been drafted into the Army just eight months after immigrating to the United States from Ireland, and said many veterans of his era quietly stepped back from their service after returning home.
“All of us folks that returned from Vietnam took our uniforms off, went about our business,” Walsh said. “Because of what was going on at the time — the protests. So I think a lot of us just shut it out. I didn’t get involved really prior to Larry’s get together.”
Walsh served in Vietnam beginning in 1966, arriving by ship on a voyage that took about three weeks. He said he was in combat most of the time.
The backgrounds around the table are as varied as the men themselves. One member retired from the Navy after about 21 years, Richard Rivas Jr. noting he enlisted exactly 40 years to the day after Pearl Harbor. Mark Parmenter served in the Air Force for seven years, from 1974 to 1981. Another member, Beau, was drafted in 1965, applied for Army flight school, and was accepted.
Despite their different branches and eras, the group shares a common thread — navigating life after service. That includes working with the VA and dealing with health issues they say followed them home from war. Two members say they were exposed to Agent Orange.
“It’s nice to be able to talk to somebody that knows what you’re talking about,” Larry said. “Because if I talk to any civilian, they have no concept of the anxiety, the danger, the stress that you go through.”
There’s one member of the group who is no longer there in person, but his presence is felt every week. Richard, a friend the group still talks about warmly, is remembered for his animated storytelling and his unmistakable way of jumping into a conversation.
“He’d poke your shoulder — ‘Oh! Oh! Oh! Yeah, this happened, that happened,’” Parmenter recalled. “That was the fun part about Richard.”
With Veterans Day here, the conversation at the table turned reflective. Rivas said the holiday carries deep meaning for him.
“I think it’s a good time for remembrance, for Veterans Day, and those that have fallen — those are the true heroes,” Rivas said. “So to me it gets very emotional, but at the same time I have a lot of gratitude for the service and all members.”
The stories get better with time, they say — and so does the company.
“You know, as we get older, the stories get better,” Patrick said with a smile.
For this group, 11 a.m. every Friday is more than a coffee run. It’s a check-in, a laugh, and a reminder that the bonds built in service don’t have to end when the uniform comes off.
