Veterans at the Lindenhurst Memorial Library

Discover "the stories America needs to hear" (Admiral William H. McRaven, US Navy (Ret.)) with these moving and powerful recollections of war, told by the men and women who lived them.



Walk in my Combat Boots is a powerful collection crafted from hundreds of original interviews by James Patterson, the world's #1 bestselling writer, and First Sergeant US Army (Ret.) Matt Eversmann, part of the Ranger unit portrayed in the movie Black Hawk Down.



These are the brutally honest stories usually only shared amongst comrades in arms. Here, in the voices of the men and women who've fought overseas from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan, is a rare eye-opening look into what wearing the uniform, fighting in combat, losing friends and coming home is really like. Readers who next thank a military member for their service will finally have a true understanding of what that thanks is for.

"Poignant . . . Well worth the read." --Wall Street Journal

In December 1944, Frank Sisson deployed to Europe as part of General George S. Patton's famed Third Army. Over the next six months, as the war in Europe raged, Sisson would participate in many of World War II's most consequential events, from the Battle of the Bulge to the liberation of Dachau. Now 95 years old, Frank shares his remarkable story of life under General Patton for the first time.

Frank Sisson grew up in rural Oklahoma during the Great Depression. His father died when Frank was young, and so in 1944, at age eighteen, Frank, like so many other young men across America, enlisted in the Army and was deployed to France. At a traffic intersection one day, Frank caught his first glimpse of the man who would control the next six months of Frank's deployment, and whose lessons, and spirit, would shape the rest of Frank's life. General Patton could be erratic and short-tempered--but he was also a brilliant military tactician and cared deeply for the men who served under him, a credo that gave Frank and his fellow soldiers solace as they faced death every day. In this gritty, intimate account, Frank reveals what life on the ground was really like in the closing days of World War II.

After the war, Frank continued to serve in the army as a military police inspector in Berlin. When he finally returned home, he attended college and built a career in business. Like many members of the Greatest Generation, he was often reluctant to share his stories of the war, in all their glory, and terror. He was content to live and work in the nation he had fought to protect, an embodiment of the American Dream.

Patton, on the other hand, would not live to see the postwar world he helped create. In December 1945, less than a year after the conclusion of the war, he tragically died following a car accident. Now, seventy-five years later, Frank Sisson's remarkable reminiscences provide a fresh, unique look at Patton's leadership, the final days of World War II and its direct aftermath, and the experience of combat on the front lines.

A story of valor and the making of a hero—Florent Groberg, who grew up in France, emigrated to the US, and was the first immigrant in forty years to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor after he saved many lives by tackling a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.

Florent “Flo” Groberg was born in 1983, in the suburbs of Paris. When he was in middle school, his family moved to the US, and Flo became a naturalized citizen in 2001. After attending the University of Maryland, he joined the Army in 2008 and deployed to Afghanistan in 2009. He deployed a second time in 2012. In August of that year, Flo was guarding a high-level US-Afghan delegation and noticed someone suspicious: a local man stumbling toward his patrol. Flo reacted quickly and ran to tackle the man—who was wearing a suicide vest—before he could reach the patrol. Four people died in the subsequent explosion, but many others were spared. Flo himself was badly wounded and spent the next three years undergoing surgeries at Walter Reed Medical Center. On November 12, 2015, Captain Groberg was given the nation’s highest military award, the Congressional Medal of Honor—the first immigrant to be so recognized since the Vietnam War.

8 Seconds of Courage tells Flo’s story from his childhood in France to his decision to enlist and the grueling training he underwent at US Army Ranger School. Through trial and error, he learned to be a field commander and on the front lines in Afghanistan formed close and lasting bonds with his fellow soldiers. It was this powerful sense of responsibility that compelled him to take his brave action to save lives, even at the risk of his own.

Seldom when we hear about the heroism of Medal of Honor recipients do we learn what motivates their actions. Flo Groberg provides that essential insight into his selfless act of valor while honoring his four fallen brothers in arms. 8 Seconds of Courage is a story of heroism, sacrifice, and camaraderie in wartime.

A Vietnam War veteran paints a searing portrait of his one-year tour of duty as an Army draftee, shedding light on the emotional and physical casualties of war 

In this intimate memoir, Perry A. Ulander chronicles with powerful clarity the bewildering predicament he confronted and the fellowship and guidance that transformed him during the year he served as an American GI in the jungles of Vietnam. Conveying with unadorned precision the harrowing experiences that shatter his core beliefs, Ulander also captures the camaraderie and humor of his platoon, the hostility between “lifers” and draftees, the physical hardships of reconnaissance missions, and the unrelenting apprehension underlying everyday life. Ultimately, he describes the surrendering of social norms and accepted identities that allows him to glimpse a previously unimagined realm of heightened awareness.
 
Written after a lifetime of reflection on the nature of war and the effect of violence and domination on the minds and spirits of those forced to practice it, Walking Point offers a powerful narrative for readers with an interest in the effects of war and violence, American involvement in Vietnam, PTSD, and how trauma can be a catalyst for spiritual transformation. Giving voice to profound insights gained through extreme adversity, Ulander movingly captures the depth of trust and commitment among a group of unwitting warriors who struggle to stay alive and sane in unchartered territory.

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY PETER FARRELLY, STARRING ZAC EFRON AND RUSSELL CROWE!

Instant New York Times Bestseller

Instant USA Today Bestseller

"Chickie takes us thousands of miles on a hilarious quest laced with sorrow, but never dull. You will laugh and cry, but you will not be sorry that you read this rollicking story."--Malachy McCourt

A wildly entertaining, feel-good memoir of an Irish-American New Yorker and former U.S. marine who embarked on a courageous, hare-brained scheme to deliver beer to his pals serving Vietnam in the late 1960s.

One night in 1967, twenty-six-year-old John Donohue--known as Chick--was out with friends, drinking in a New York City bar. The friends gathered there had lost loved ones in Vietnam. Now, they watched as anti-war protesters turned on the troops themselves.

One neighborhood patriot came up with an inspired--some would call it insane--idea. Someone should sneak into Vietnam, track down their buddies there, give them messages of support from back home, and share a few laughs over a can of beer.

It would be the Greatest Beer Run Ever.

But who'd be crazy enough to do it?

One man was up for the challenge--a U. S. Marine Corps veteran turned merchant mariner who wasn't about to desert his buddies on the front lines when they needed him.

Chick volunteered.

A day later, he was on a cargo ship headed to Vietnam, armed with Irish luck and a backpack full of alcohol. Landing in Qui Nho'n, Chick set off on an adventure that would change his life forever--an odyssey that took him through a series of hilarious escapades and harrowing close calls, including the Tet Offensive. But none of that mattered if he could bring some cheer to his pals and show them how much the folks back home appreciated them.

This is the story of that epic beer run, told in Chick's own words and those of the men he visited in Vietnam.

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

Learn the incredible story of Illinois senator and Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth and see what inspired her to follow the path that made her who she is today.

In Every Day Is a Gift, Tammy Duckworth takes readers through the amazing--and amazingly true--stories from her incomparable life. In November of 2004, an Iraqi RPG blew through the cockpit of Tammy Duckworth's U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. The explosion, which destroyed her legs and mangled her right arm, was a turning point in her life. But as Duckworth shows in Every Day Is a Gift, that moment was just one in a lifetime of extraordinary turns.

The biracial daughter of an American father and a Thai-Chinese mother, Duckworth faced discrimination, poverty, and the horrors of war--all before the age of 16. As a child, she dodged bullets as her family fled war-torn Phnom Penh. As a teenager, she sold roses by the side of the road to save her family from hunger and homelessness in Hawaii. Through these experiences, she developed a fierce resilience that would prove invaluable in the years to come.

Duckworth joined the Army, becoming one of a handful of female helicopter pilots at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She served eight months in Iraq before an insurgent's RPG shot down her helicopter, an attack that took her legs--and nearly took her life. She then spent thirteen months recovering at Walter Reed, learning to walk again on prosthetic legs and planning her return to the cockpit. But Duckworth found a new mission after meeting her state's senators, Barack Obama and Dick Durbin. After winning two terms as a U.S. Representative, she won election to the U.S. Senate in 2016. And she and her husband Bryan fulfilled another dream when she gave birth to two daughters, becoming the first sitting senator to give birth.

From childhood to motherhood and beyond, Every Day Is a Gift is the remarkable story of one of America's most dedicated public servants.

Following the success of his New York Times bestseller, Until Tuesday, Iraq War veteran Luis Carlos Montalván advocated for America's wounded warriors and the healing powers of service dogs.

In this spectacular memoir, Luis and Tuesday brought their healing mission to the next level, showing how these beautifully trained animals could assist soldiers, veterans, and many others with mental and physical disabilities. They rescued a forgotten Tuskegee airman, battled obstinate VA bureaucrats, and provided solace to war heroes coast-to-coast.

As Luis and Tuesday celebrated exhilarating victories, a grave obstacle threatened their work. Luis made great progress battling his own PTSD, but his physical wounds got so bad that he was wheelchair-bound. He needed to decide whether to amputate his leg and carry on with a bionic prosthesis. Even as he struggled with dramatic emotional and physical changes, ten-year-old Tuesday was lovingly by his side through it all.

Luis' death in December 2016 was another terrible tragedy of the invisible wounds of war. This book was his last letter of love to his best friend, Tuesday, and to veterans, readers, friends, and fellow dog lovers everywhere.

Never more timely than now, Tuesday's Promise is an inspiring story of love, service, teamwork, and the remarkable bond between humans and canines.

Reference Manual For all Federal Title 38 veterans' benefits updates through Dec 31, 2015.

Voyager / Veteran is designed to provide a paradigm model (for how one thinks about change) needed and practiced for conducting exceptional and meaningful job search for veterans.

This approach to job search embodies a combination of traditional and unconventional tools and simple universal truths. The paths taken are diverse: inclusive of anecdotal examples, formal and informal training, educational disciplines, cultural, and social values. The focus is most certainly one of compassion, inquiry, and self-discovery, all directed at fostering a productive mindset resulting in the development and realization of a veteran's true career and employment potential, a journey towards self-sufficiency and sustainability.