Dan Plesniarski entered the Beacon 443 Restaurant in Lehighton on Thursday morning just as he would any other time.

The only difference was this time around, his meal was on the house courtesy of Lehigh Valley Hospital-Carbon, which picked up the tab for any veteran who came to the restaurant for breakfast.

Plesniarski, who was accompanied by his wife, Rosemary, said he couldn’t believe it when he found out the couple would be eating for free on Veterans Day, no less.

“It’s nice to get honored,” Plesniarski said. “At one point, we never did.”

Plesniarski served in the Navy on the USS Saratoga from 1972-1975.

“We appreciate (LVHN) setting this up for us,” he said.

Across the room sat Chris Walk of Lehighton, who enjoyed his country-style breakfast with a side of bacon.

Walk served in the U.S. Army with the 82nd Airborne from 1977-1987.

“Lehigh Valley is a great hospital; they took care of my mother,” said a choked-up Walk. “They took good care of her.”

Walk said that wasn’t the only reason he was grateful to the health network.

“I’m pretty much a regular (at the Beacon),” he said. “I enjoy the atmosphere, the service and the music.”

The generosity of LVH-Carbon on this Veterans Day clearly wasn’t lost on Walk.

“They have great health care,” he said. “My condolences to the people that have served, and also the POW.”

Chris Nelson, manager of the Beacon 443, said her business routinely does its best to show its appreciation to our veterans.

“We generally give a 10% discount for veterans (daily), and over Veterans Day we give them 20%,” Nelson said. “My dad was a veteran, I have lot of family that were veterans.”

The health network’s kind gesture certainly kept the restaurant hopping, something Nelson said she was glad to see.

“I thank Lehigh Valley Hospital for doing this,” she said. “It was kind of like a surprise for the veterans when they walked in.”

The free breakfast for veterans wasn’t something the hospital promoted, according to Terry Purcell, president of LVH-Carbon.

Purcell estimated LVH-Carbon - which plans to open in Mahoning Township in March - provided free breakfasts for about 60 veterans as of the halfway point of the event.

“We’re here to show how much we appreciate our veterans,” Purcell said. “Lehigh Valley Hospital truly appreciates our veterans, and this is a way to show we support them for all they have done for the community.”