According to Wikipedia, Memorial Day was first celebrated in 1868 to honor the Union soldiers who died in the Civil War. It was updated in 1971 to its current observance on the last Monday in May and to honor all who have been killed in military service. I have always looked at this holiday through the viewpoint of World War II. There were so many lost and those losses were well documented, making World War II the first time the public had a full understanding of the loss of life through photos, broadcasts, and memoirs.
In honor of Memorial Day and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, I’ve put together a list of great books set during each of the great wars our country has faced:
American Revolution
- Mount Vernon Love Story, Mary Higgins Clark
- 1776, David McCullough
- Killing England, Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard
- The Whiskey Rebels, David Liss
- Redcoat, Bernard Cornwell
- The Hornet’s Nest, Jimmy Carter
American Civil War
- Andersonville, MacKinlay Kantor
- Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier
- The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane
- North and South, John Jakes
- Enemy Women, Paulette Jiles
- The Thread Collectors, Shaunna J Edwards & Alyson Richman
World War I
- A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway
- All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
- An Ice-Cream War, William Boyd
- War Horse, Michael Morpurgo
- Goodbye to All That, Robert Graves
World War II
- All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer
- The Greatest Generation, Tom Brokaw
- Countdown to Pearl Harbor, Steve Twomey
- A Letter from Pearl Harbor, Anna Stuart
Korean War
- The Surrendered, Chang-rae Lee
- War Trash, Ha Jim
- The Manchurian Candidate, Richard Condon
- M.A.S.H., Richard Hooker
Vietnam War
- Close Quarters, Larry Heinemann
- Kill Anything That Moves, Nick Turse
- Fire in the Lake, Frances FitzGerald
- Home Before Morning, Lynda Van Devanter
- Matterhorn, Karl Marlantes
- The World Played Chess, Robert Dugoni
Gulf War
- Desert Storm: Dreadnought, Joseph B George
- Jarhead, Anthony Swofford
- My Journey as a Combat Medic, Patrick Thibeault
- Crusade, Rick Atkinson
- The Commanders, Bob Woodward
The War in Afghanistan
- The American War in Afghanistan, Carter Malkasian
- War, Sebastian Junger
- Reaper Force, Dr. Peter Lee
- Jawbreaker, Gary Berntsen
- The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
Iraq War
- The Yellow Birds, Kevin Powers
- Thank You for Your Service, David Finkle
- Fiasco, Thomas E Ricks
- Sunrise Over Fallujah, Walter Dean Myers
- American Sniper, Chris Kyle
To all those who are remembering a loved one lost in serivce to this country, we support you and mourn your loss, too. Because of your sacrifice, my children can live a free life. Words of gratitude and compassion will never be enough to make up for your loss. Please know it will never be forgotten.
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What I’m Reading
- Current print book: Ordinary Grace, William Ken Krueger
- Current audio book: Biloxi, Mary Miller
- Book I’m most looking forward to: Legends of the Fall, Jim Harrison
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