The Rancher Who Feeds Troops a Ribeye

Bill Broadie was a 19-year-old Marine when he was shot in Vietnam, and he came home to a country arguing about the war. Decades later the Kansas cattleman decided the next generation of soldiers would hear a thank-you over a ribeye dinner. His volunteers are still cooking.

A Marine Comes Home

Broadie was a third-generation rancher from Kansas. He was serving in the Marine Corps in Vietnam when he was shot, and he lost his leg.

The organization he founded says he returned to "a nation in turmoil," where anti-war protesters angrily criticized the troops who had served.

Broadie put it more bluntly in a 2020 interview with the Yankton Press & Dakotan: returning Vietnam veterans "were called 'baby killers'" and "we had people spit on Vietnam veterans."

That was what stayed with him. Jon Fort, a senior leader of the group, told an Army reporter in 2019: "He didn't want to see today's Soldiers get treated the same way he was."

Decades Later, a Grill

Broadie worked for Superior Livestock Auction. He called the company's owner with an idea: serve ribeye steak dinners to troops on bases around the country, so they could enjoy a meal with their families.

He applied for nonprofit status in 2007. On April 26, 2008, the group hosted its first steak feed for members of the Kansas National Guard in Olathe, Kansas. Broadie later said he missed it: he and his wife were on a trip to Hawaii.

The Guardsmen were being deployed to Iraq. Accounts of the size of that first crowd differ: Beef Magazine reported 220 ribeyes for more than 200 service members and family, while the group's chairman later recalled 450 Guardsmen.

Trailers, Volunteers, No Pay

The Battalion is made up of people in the beef cattle business. They own a number of trailers that carry the supplies and cook the meals, and everything is prepared and served at no charge.

The usual plate is an 18-ounce ribeye with a complete dinner. The feeds go to units that are about to deploy, units that have just come home, and wounded warriors.

At a June 2019 feed at Fort Carson, Colorado, the volunteers served soldiers and families of the 4th Sustainment Brigade. A personnel specialist there said the volunteers' gratitude felt "heartfelt and sincere" compared with generic thank-yous.

The feeds have run at Fort Carson, Fort Bliss and the Air Force Academy. Broadie recalled one weekend with 5,200 people served at the Academy and 4,800 the next day at Fort Carson.

"A successful day for us is a bunch of full bellies and smiling faces," Fort said.

Without Their Founder

Broadie died in 2021. The group says it continues as an all-volunteer organization to carry on his legacy, with no paid staff.

In December 2025, chairman Jon Fort said the Battalion had served nearly half a million meals in 29 states: about 457,500 service members and family members since that first feed in Olathe, including roughly 6,500 in 2025 alone.

That month, a single calf sold in a rollover sale at the Oklahoma National Stockyards raised more than $44,000 for the group's work.

The ribeyes are still on the grill. The group takes donations through steaksfortroops.com.