MILITARY BOOKS FOR MEMORIAL DAY
All titles are available on Overdrive in Audiobook and/or eBook format
Key A = Audiobook E = eBook
Flags of our Fathers / James Bradley with Ron Powers A
Chronicles one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, focusing on the men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima.
The Red Badge of Courage / Stephen Crane A & E
Henry Fleming, a young Union soldier, struggles with his conflicting emotions about violence, death, and the nature of bravery in this ironic, skeptical account of the Civil War.
Thank you for Your Service / David Finkel
Finkel follows the men of the 2-16 Infantry as they have returned home and struggled to reintegrate--both into their family lives and into American society at large.
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk / Ben Fountain A & E
A satire set in Texas during America's war in Iraq that explores the gaping national disconnect between the war at home and the war abroad. Follows the surviving members of the heroic Bravo Squad through one exhausting stop in their media-intensive "Victory Tour" at Texas Stadium, football mecca of the Dallas Cowboys, their fans, promoters, and cheerleaders.
The Face of War / Martha Gellhorn E
Martha Gellhorn (1908-1998) was a war correspondent for nearly fifty years. From the Spanish Civil War in 1937 through the wars in Central America in the mid-eighties, her candid reports reflected her feelings for people no matter what their political ideologies, and the openness and vulnerability of her conscience. "I wrote very fast, as I had to," she says, "afraid that I would forget the exact sound, smell, words, gestures, which were special to this moment and this place." Whether in Java, Finland, the Middle East, or Vietnam, she used the same vigorous approach.
Paco's Story / Larry Heinemann A & E
After Paco Sullivan is the lone survivor from Alpha Company's Viet Cong attack, he returns home and survives on Valium and Librium while employed as a dishwasher.
Catch-22 / Joseph Heller A & E
Presents the contemporary classic depicting the struggles of a United States airman attempting to survive the lunacy and depravity of a World War II airbase.
A Farewell to Arms / Ernest Hemingway A & E
A tragic wartime romance set against the brutal and chaotic backdrop of World War I is the classic story of a volunteer ambulance driver wounded on the Italian front and the English nurse he loves and leaves behind.
Dispatches / Michael Herr A & E
Former Esquire war correspondent Herr recounts the nightmare experiences he had in Vietnam.
Unbroken: A World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption / Laura Hillenbrand A & E
Relates the story of a U.S. airman who survived when his bomber crashed into the sea during World War II, spent forty-seven days adrift in the ocean before being rescued by the Japanese Navy, and was held as a prisoner until the end of the war.
Tree of Smoke / Denis Johnson A & E
The lives of Skip Sands, a spy-in-training engaged in psychological operations against the Vietcong, and brothers Bill and James Houston, young men who drift out of the Arizona desert into a war, intertwine in a novel of America during the Vietnam War.
The Thin Red Line / James Jones E
C-for-Charlie, an Army rifle company, struggles against death, depression, and cowardice during the invasion of Guadalcanal.
The Things They Carried: a work of fiction / by Tim O'Brien E
A collection of award-winning and utterly moving stories about the madness of the Vietnam war.
The Yellow Birds: a novel / Kevin Powers A & E
In the midst of a bloody battle in the Iraq War, two soldiers, bound together since basic training, do everything to protect each other from both outside enemies and the internal struggles that come from constant danger.
Jarhead: A Marine's chronicle of the Gulf War and other battles / Anthony Swofford
A & E
Swofford weaves his experience of the Gulf War in the early 1990s with vivid accounts of boot camp, reflections on the mythos of the marines, and remembrances of battles with lovers and family.
Johnny Got His Gun / Dalton Trumbo A & E
During World War I, an American soldier awakens in a hospital and realizes his arms, legs, ears, and face have been destroyed by an artillery shell. After nine years of lying in bed, he begins to tap messages in Morse code by moving his head. He communicates with a nurse and asks for someone to help him leave the hospital or die.
The Flight Girls / Noelle Salazar A & E
A novel look at the Women' Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program and the heroic role women played in training military pilots who were being deployed to fight during World War II.
The Greatest Generation / Tom Brokaw E
Focuses on the generation of Americans who were born in the 1920s, came of age during the Depression, fought in World War II, and came home to build a new America during the postwar era.
Black Hawk Down: a story of modern war / Mark Bowden A & E
A group of elite U.S. soldiers is sent into Mogadishu in 1993 on a U.N. peacekeeping operation, and for eighteen harrowing hours they are trapped, facing overwhelming odds in hostile territory.
We Were Soldiers Once-- and Young: Ia Drang, the battle that changed the war in Vietnam / Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway A & E
A definitive study of the 1965 battle of Ia Drang, in the central highlands of South Vietnam, provides a blow-by-blow account of the battle and the implications of this key confrontation.
Cold Mountain / a novel by Charles Frazier A & E
The impact of the Civil War on lovers. Inman is not the man he used to be, as wounded in battle he slowly makes his way home to North Carolina. His sweetheart, Ada, too has changed, no longer a flighty belle but a hard-working farm woman. Will love be the same?
Born on the Fourth of July / Ron Kovic E
A former marine paralyzed from the chest down as a result of an injury suffered in Vietnam recalls his youth, battlefield experiences, and the agonies of his slow reentry into American society.