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Veteran's Day

Honor the men and women who have served their country by learning about their experiences and sacrifices.

Soldier girls : the battles of three women at home and at war by Helen Thorpe

Follows the lives of three women over twelve years on their paths to the military, overseas to combat, and back home. These women, who are quite different in every way, become friends, and we watch their interaction and also what happens when they are separated. We see their families, their lovers, their spouses, their children. We see them work extremely hard, deal with the attentions of men on base and in war zones, and struggle to stay connected to their families back home

The Tuskegee Airmen by Lynn M Homan

In 1941, Tuskegee, Alabama, was selected as the site of an important new development in military training. For the first time, black Americans were to be allowed to serve their country as members of the United States Army Air Corps. During its five-year history, Tuskegee Army Air Field was home to almost 1,000 African-American pilots. More than 10,000 black men and women served as their vital support personnel. Together, they filled the ranks of the 99th Fighter Squadron, the 332nd Fighter Group, and the 477th Bombardment Group. Their remarkable achievements at home and overseas destroyed stereotypes and helped to bring about the eventual integration of the United States military. Under the harsh restrictions of segregation, the African-Americans both trained and served together, and in this forced isolation, developed unbreakable bonds .

It shouldn't be this hard to serve your country : our broken government and the plight of veterans by David J Shulkin

Known in health care circles for his ability to turn around ailing hospitals, Dr. David Shulkin was originally brought into government by President Obama to save the beleaguered Department of Veterans Affairs. When President Trump appointed him as secretary of the VA, Shulkin was as shocked as anyone. Yet this surprise was trivial compared to what Shulkin encountered as secretary: a team of political appointees devoted to stopping anyone -- including the secretary himself -- who stood in the way of privatizing the agency and implementing their political agenda. In this uninhibited memoir, Shulkin opens up about why the government has long struggled to provide good medical care to military veterans and the plan he had to solve these problems. This is a book about the commitment we make to the men and women who risk their lives fighting for our country, how the VA was finally beginning to live up to it, and why the new administration may now be taking us in the wrong direction

The greatest generation by Tom Brokaw

TV anchorman Tom Brokaw presents the stories and experiences of the Greatest Generation (those who rose out of the Great Depression to patriotically fight for their country during World War II) along with their family members

Once a warrior : how one veteran found a new mission closer to home by Jake Wood

"The powerful story of one Marine who found healing and renewed purpose after returning from combat, for himself and tens of thousands of fellow veterans. When Marine sniper Jake Wood came home in 2009 from grueling tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, his country asked yet more of him: to compartmentalize his traumatic memories, put his elite military training on a shelf, and adjust to living outside high-stakes situations. Jake feared he would join the huge population of veterans struggling to reintegrate. Since 2001, more service members have died by suicide than have been killed in Afghanistan. One activity helped Jake and his friend and fellow Marine Clay Hunt find a measure of hope: helping communities after disasters, where their training rendered them unusually effective in high-stakes situations. But as their new organization struggled to get off the ground and the VA tied up Clay's meds in red tape, Clay committed suicide. Reeling, Jake resolved to help as many disaster-affected communities and provide a mission to as many veterans as possible. Over the past 10 years, with no money or experience, he and his team have recruited over 100,000 volunteers to his organization Team Rubicon. It's established a reputation for delivering desperately needed aidfaster and better than other organizations hindered by bureaucracy. Racing against the clock, veteran volunteers utilize their military training to untangle complex problems quickly and keep calm under pressure in catastrophic scenarios. What's more, TeamRubicon gives meaningful direction to men and women who need the disaster response work as much as the work needs them. Having a continued purpose--a mission that matters--can be the key to a veteran's successful transition from war to peace"--

When Janey comes marching home

Women are officially barred from combat in the American armed services, yet in today's wars, where there are no front lines, the ban on combat is virtually meaningless. More than in any previous conflict in our history, American women are engaging with the enemy, suffering injuries, and even sacrificing their lives in the line of duty. When Janey Comes Marching Home juxtaposes forty-eight photographs by Sascha Pflaeging with oral histories collected by Laura Browder to provide a dramatic portrait of women at war. Women from all five branches of the military share their stories here-stories that are by turns moving, comic, thought-provoking, and profound. Seeing their faces in stunning color portraits and reading what they have to say about loss, comradeship, conflict, and hard choices will change the ways we think about women and war. Serving in a combat zone is an all-encompassing experience that is transformative, life-defining, and difficult to leave behind. By coming face-to-face with women veterans, we who are outside that world can begin to get a sense of how the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have impacted their lives and how their stories may ripple out and influence the experiences of all American women. To view the photographs follow this link: http://www.blackstoneaudio.com/docs/WhenJaneyComesMarchingHome.pdf

Rise : a soldier, a dream, and a promise kept by Daniel Rodriguez

The unforgettable story of a young soldier who survived one of the bloodiest battles in Afghanistan and lived to pursue his dream of playing Division I college football At 5-foot-8, 175 pounds, Daniel Rodriguez was an unlikely recruit for the gridiron. But on the battlefield, under the daily rain of sniper fire, he made a promise to his best friend. "When I get out of this shit hole, I'm going to play college football." Daniel had joined the Army just weeks after graduating from high school, having recently suffered a devastating loss. At age nineteen he had no idea what war really was; he just wanted to get out of town. Almost immediately, he was deployed to Iraq, and he would later serve in Afghanistan. And he grew up fast-stopped sleeping, started smoking. Killing became second nature. He fought in the infamous Battle of Kamdesh, and for his bravery he was awarded a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. But his best friend was not so lucky. Against all odds, Daniel returned home-broken but still alive. Stuck in the clutches of PTSD, Daniel remembered the promise he made to his friend and knew he had to make good on it. He embarked on a grueling training regimen, and when he posted a video of his efforts, it went viral overnight. By some mix of grit, determination, and the power of the Internet, he earned a spot on the Clemson University football team. A powerfully delivered narrative of a young soldier, his unlikely dream, and how he found his way out of darkness, Rise is inspiring, quintessentially American, and will resonate with anyone who has ever fought for what they wanted

A dog called hope : the Special Forces wounded warrior and the dog who dared to love him by Jason (Paratrooper) Morgan

A decade ago, Special Forces warrior Jason Morgan parachuted into the Central American jungle on an anti-narcotics raid. He’d served with the famous Night Stalkers on countless such missions. This one turned out very different. Months later, he regained consciousness in a US military hospital, with no memory of how he’d gotten there. The first words he heard were from his surgeon telling him he would never walk again. The determined soldier responded: “Sir, yes, I will.” After multiple surgeries, unbearable chronic pain, and numerous setbacks, Morgan was finally making progress when his wife left him and their three young sons. He was a single father confined to a wheelchair and tortured by his pain. At this very dark, very low point, Morgan found light: Napal, the black Labrador who would change his life forever.

Fortitude American resilience in the era of outrage by Dan Crenshaw

"In 2012, on his third tour of duty, an improvised explosive device left Dan Crenshaw's right eye destroyed and his left blinded. Only through the careful hand of his surgeons, and what doctors called a miracle, did Crenshaw's left eye recover partial vision. And yet, he persevered, completing two more deployments. Why? There are certain stories we tell ourselves about the hardships we face -- we can become paralyzed by adversity or we can adapt and overcome. We can be fragile or we can find our fortitude. Crenshaw delivers a set of lessons to help you do just that. Most people's everyday challenges aren't as extreme as surviving combat, and yet our society is more fragile than ever: exploding with outrage, drowning in microaggressions, and devolving into divisive mob politics. The American spirit -- long characterized by grit and fortitude -- is unraveling. We must fix it. That's exactly what Crenshaw accomplishes with FORTITUDE. This book isn't about the problem, it's about the solution. And that solution begins with each and every one of us. We must all lighten up, toughen up, and begin treating our fellow Americans with respect and grace. FORTITUDE is a no-nonsense advice book for finding the strength to deal with everything from menial daily frustrations to truly difficult challenges. More than that, it is a roadmap for a more resilient American culture. With meditations on perseverance, failure, and finding much-needed heroes, the book is the antidote for a prevailing "safety culture" of trigger warnings and safe spaces. Interspersed with lessons from history and psychology is Crenshaw's own story of how an average American kid from the Houston suburbs went from war zones to the halls of Congress -- and managed to navigate his path with a sense of humor and an even greater sense that, no matter what anyone else around us says or does, we are in control of our own destiny."--Amazon

Dear America : letters home from Vietnam

An authentic account of the Vietnam War from the actual letters of the men and women who served there. The harsh realities of life and death, friendships made and lost - these letters home tell it all, with newsreel and home-movie footage shot by the servicemen themselves. These are the authentic voices of war, some who survived, many who never made it home

Thank you for my service by Mat Best

"Mat Best may be the only man alive known for both crazy-intense military ops and crazy-funny YouTube videos. In Freedom On!, he uses the gallows humor and ribald sensibility that earned him over a million Facebook followers to tell his personal story of military service and the bumpy transition to civilian life and successful entrepreneurship. Beginning as a teenager in a military family dealing with 9/11, continuing through the intensity of four years as an Army Ranger and five years as a private military contractor, and concluding with one of the most meaningful moments in Best's life--screening a movie he wrote, produced, and starred in for soldiers deployed overseas--Best gives readers a fuller sense of the person they might only know from his major online and video persona. With equal amounts of heart and balls, this is the unapologetic, laugh-your-ass-off military book that vets and civilians alike have been waiting for"--

The Tuskegee airmen

This inspiring World War II story spotlights 450 men who fought on two fronts at once. Black American aviators, known as the Tuskegee Airmen, battled Axis powers in Europe and North Africa and then took on racism at home. Trained by the segregated military system as an experiment to see if blacks could fly in combat, these pilots made more than 15,000 sorties and 1,500 missions. Their success led to the integration of the U.S. armed forces

Hope unseen : the story of the U.S. army's first blind active-duty officer by Scotty Smiley

Blindness became Captain Scotty Smiley's journey of supreme testing. With his wife's love and the support of family and friends, Scotty's response became God's transforming moment. Since the moment he forced his way through nurses and cords to take a simple shower, he has climbed Mount Rainier, won an ESPY Award, surfed, skydived, become a father, earned an MBA from Duke, taught leadership at West Point, and won the MacArthur Leadership Award

The women with silver wings : the inspiring true story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II by Katherine Sharp Landdeck

"The thrilling true story of the daring female aviators who helped the United States win World War II-only to be forgotten by the country they served When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Cornelia Fort was already in the air. At twenty-two, Fort had escaped Nashville's debutante scene for a fresh start as a flight instructor in Hawaii. She and her student were in the middle of their lesson when the bombs began to fall, and they barely made it back to ground that morning. Still, when the U.S. Army Air Forces put out a call for women pilots to aid the war effort, Fort was one of the first to respond. She became one of just over 1,100 women from across the nation to make it through the Army's rigorous selection process and earn her silver wings. The brainchild of trailblazing pilots Nancy Love and Jacqueline Cochran, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) gave women like Fort a chance to serve their country-and to prove that women aviators were just as skilled as men. While not authorized to serve in combat, the WASP helped train male pilots for service abroad, and ferried bombers and pursuits across the country. Thirty-eight WASP would not survive the war. But even taking into account these tragic losses, Love and Cochran's social experiment seemed to be a resounding success-until, with the tides of war turning, Congress clipped the women's wings. The program was disbanded, the women sent home. But the bonds they'd forged never failed, and over the next few decades they came together to fight for recognition as the military veterans they were-and for their place in history"--Provided by publisher

Beyond valor : a World War II story of extraordinary heroism, sacrificial love, and a race against time by Jon Erwin

"A miraculous true story of a soldier's unspeakable heroism, a teenage woman's unfailing love, and the faith that secured them all"--

Perfectly wounded: a memoir about what happens after a miracle by Mike Day

A retired U.S. Navy SEAL discusses his work as a Special Operations Command Wounded Warrior Advocate and the founder of Warrior Tribe, the non-profit organization he founded to provide help for veterans and trauma survivors.

War flower : my life after Iraq by Brooke King

"A no-holds-barred account of the reality women face in the war, War Flower pushes back against the stereotypes about women in combat."--Provided by publisher

Grateful American : a journey from self to service by Gary Sinise

Theater icon, award-winning film and television star, and American patriot Gary Sinise shares the never-before-told story of his journey from trouble-making Chicago kid to cofounder of the legendary Steppenwolf Theater Company, world-famous actor, and tireless advocate for America's active duty defenders, veterans, and first responders

Every man a hero : a memoir of D-Day, the first wave at Omaha Beach, and a world at war by Ray (Arnold Ray) Lambert

Every Man a Hero is the unforgettable story not only of what happened in the incredible and desperate hours on Omaha Beach, but of the bravery and courage that preceded them, throughout the Second World War—from the sands of Africa, through the treacherous mountain passes of Sicily, and beyond to the greatest military victory the world has ever known

The last of the doughboys : the forgotten generation and their forgotten world war by Richard Rubin

Collected over ten years, presents interviews with the last remaining World War I veterans, aged 101 to 113, to paint a picture of a time and a generation that, despite memorials and history lessons, is quickly fading away

Recipient of the National Medal, the nation's highest honor for libraries.