Honor our Veterans by Reading or Listening to a Story about their experiences
Memorial Day honors the women and men who died while serving in the U.S. military. There are many books that tell their stories. Some books are written by historians or family of those who died. Some books are written by the soldiers and sailors who were fortunate enough to come home.
This list is a selection of books that can be read (or listened to) electronically with your Pollard library card.
A Soldier’s Secret: The Incredible True Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero  by Marissa Moss
A novel that follows the life of Sarah Edmonds who enlisted in the Union army during the civil war, posing as a man.
Available as an E-book from Overdrive from CLAMS with your Pollard library card https://clamsnet.overdrive.com/media/%7BB4913DCC-8A0B-4D75-B785-3B521F3C8C67%7D
Edmonds’ own memoir is available for reading on archive.org  https://archive.org/details/nursespyunion00edmorich/mode/2up
Flags of our Fathers by James Bradley
Tells the story of the six marines who raised the American flag at Iwo Jima in 1945. Their iconic photograph symbolizes courage and an indominable will
Available from Overdrive as an E-book https://mvlc.overdrive.com/media/80414
Available from Overdrive as a digital audio book https://mvlc.overdrive.com/media/128567
Unknown Valor A Story of Family, Courage, and Sacrifice from Pearl Harbor to Iwo Jima by Martha MacCallum
Tells the story of MacCallum’s mother’s cousin, Harry Gray, from his childhood home in Boston through the jungles of the South Pacific and on to Iwo Jima. MacCallum also follows life on the home front during World War II.
Available from Overdrive as an E-book https://mvlc.overdrive.com/media/4754265
Available from Overdrive as a digital audio book https://mvlc.overdrive.com/media/4875872
Spearhead An American Tank Gunner, His Enemy, and a Collision of Lives in World War II by Adam Makos. Spearhead follows the journey of Clarence Smoyer, a gunner in a Sherman tank. Smoyer survives the war but witnesses the death of many of his comrades. In Cologne, he trades fire with a Panzer tank. The two opponents become friends after the war.
Spearhead is one of Doug’s staff picks.
Available from Overdrive as an E-book https://mvlc.overdrive.com/media/4247725
Shoot Like a Girl: One Woman’s Dramatic Fight in Afghanistan and on the Home Front by Major Mary Jennings Hagar
Major Hagar served three tours in Afghanistan, flying in combat search and rescue missions. She succeeded in a harrowing search and rescue mission that earned her a Purple Heart and a Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor Device. Â Once home, Major Hagar fought to eliminate the Ground Combat Exclusion policy that kept female members of the armed services from serving in combat roles.
Available as an Overdrive E-book from CW MARS with your Pollard library card https://cwmars.overdrive.com/media/2462171
Available as an Overdrive E-book from the Boston Public Library with your Pollard library card https://bpl.overdrive.com/media/2462171
Code Talker The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII by Chester Nez and Judith Schiess Avila
Chester Nez, a member of the Navajo nation, joined the Marines during World War II. The military turned to Nez and other Navajo recruits to develop a secret language that could not be broken or interpreted by the enemy.
Available as an Overdrive E-book from CW MARS with your Pollard library card https://cwmars.overdrive.com/media/630775
Available as an Overdrive digital audio book from CLAMS with your Pollard library card https://clamsnet.overdrive.com/media/45EF78B1-6124-4A66-8192-4E6D92052046
Brothers in arms : the epic story of the 761st Tank Battalion, WWII’s forgotten heroes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anthony Walton
This book tells the story of the 761st “Black panthers”, the first all African American armored unit to see combat in World War II. The 761st was never intended to see combat and was originally formed as a public relations exercise. General Patton himself opposed the deployment. While most combat troops fought for a week before drawing back, the 761st was on the front lines for six months with chronic shortages of equipment and personnel.
Available as an Overdrive E-book from NOBLE with your Pollard library card https://noble.overdrive.com/media/9AA98BA0-46E4-48E5-B8FB-0E86E3710EAC
Available as an Overdrive E-book from the Minuteman network with your Pollard library card https://minuteman.overdrive.com/media/9AA98BA0-46E4-48E5-B8FB-0E86E3710EAC
African American voices from Iwo Jima : personal accounts of the battle by Clarence E. Willie
Almost 900 African Americans fought in the battle for Iwo Jima. The stories of their service and sacrifice has largely gone unrecorded. Â In this book, eleven African-American veterans of the battle share their experiences.
Available as an Overdrive E-book from the Minuteman network with your Pollard library card https://minuteman.overdrive.com/media/7145A0F3-9DF1-4205-B766-BC847180C91B
Brothers Forever: The Enduring Bond between a Marine and a Navy SEAL that Transcended Their Ultimate Sacrifice  by Tom Sileo and Tom Manion
Travis Manion (a fallen Marine) and Brendan Looney (a fallen Navy SEAL) were roommates at the U.S. Naval Academy. Both were killed, three years apart, in the war against global terror. With the blessing of their families, they share the same grave at Arlington national cemetery. Â Â President Obama spoke at their graves on Memorial Day in 2011 and shared a little bit of their courage and sacrifice.
Brothers Forever is one of Doug’s staff picks.
Available as an Overdrive E-book from the Boston Public Library with your Pollard library card https://bpl.overdrive.com/media/1559873
Red Platoon: a true story of American valor by Clinton Romesha (Medal of Honor recipient)
A first-hand account of the battle for Command Outpost Keating, a remote base built by the US Military to keep the Taliban from moving freely between Pakistan and Afghanistan. On October 3, 1009 the Taliban launched a major attack on COP Keating. Romesha spearheaded the defense of the outpost and a subsequent counter-attack. He was awarded the Medal of Honor.
Available as an Overdrive E-book from NOBLE with your Pollard library card https://noble.overdrive.com/media/DE010720-8CBF-41CA-9BED-D1E188F00DCA
Available as an Overdrive E-book from the Boston Public Library with your Pollard library card https://bpl.overdrive.com/media/2462139
Available as an Overdrive digital audiobook from CW MARS with your Pollard library card https://cwmars.overdrive.com/media/AC2C80F0-0AA3-417B-9DA8-E33DB4A7492D
Redeployment by Phil Klay
Takes the reader to the front-lines of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to help them understand what happened over there, and what happens to soldiers when they return home. The book is organized by stories in which an individual member of the military tries to make meaning out of chaos
Available as an Overdrive E-book from the Minuteman library network with your Pollard library card https://minuteman.overdrive.com/media/F4493C2C-AA05-44C9-A4A5-20FC16D01BB6
Available as an Overdrive E-book from CLAMS with your Pollard library card https://clamsnet.overdrive.com/media/F4493C2C-AA05-44C9-A4A5-20FC16D01BB6
Available as an Overdrive digital audio book from Minuteman with your Pollard library card https://minuteman.overdrive.com/media/6EFB98FA-E567-4E8E-9625-1E6CEC2706D5
Available as an Overdrive digital audiobook from CW MARS with your Pollard library card https://cwmars.overdrive.com/media/6EFB98FA-E567-4E8E-9625-1E6CEC2706D5