We Salute our Troops at the Comsewogue Public Library

Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day will be here before we know it. At the we are honoring our service men and women by marching out all of the wonderful books and audiobooks we have about the military branches. Our librarians received their orders and we are on a mission to showcase books related to the Army, Navy, Marines, the Air Force and Coast Guard.

Interesting books to check out

Expert resumes for military-to-civilian transitions by Wendy Enelow

Combat related traumatic brain injury and PTSD: a resource and recovery guide by Cheryl Lawhorne

A Wounded warrior handbook by Janelle Hill

The Military marriage manual by Janelle Hill

Special needs families in the military by Janelle Hill

Life after the military by Janelle Hill

Online Resources

In addition to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs the United States government has made information easily available on many other websites.

USA.gov contains a section for U.S. Military Personnel and Veterans. Some of the resources included here are: information regarding benefits, pay and health care for active military personnel, current department of defense news, family support, military history and memorials, careers in the military, veteran resources and a national resource directory.

The National Resource Directory (NRD) contains additional information for all current and past military members and their families.

One of the great resources you will find on the NRD website is the Veterans Job Bank. The site includes a special section dealing with transitioning from a military to a civilian career.

ACVOW American Combat Veterans of War connects veteran mentors with returning combat military to assist them in transitioning to civilian life. The site also contains information about PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder.

Feds Hire Vets is a one stop resource for federal employment information for veterans, transitioning military members and their families to connect with federal job employers. This group of job seekers has technical skills that are currently in demand by the federal government and many also have security clearance which is required by some federal employers.

For military career preparation go to the Comsewogue Public Library’s homepage select Learning Express Library from the scroll bar at the top of the page. You will be asked to login. Please call the library at 631-928-1212 for any questions regarding logging in to our databases. From the Learning Express homepage select the Jobs & Careers link and then select Military. The choices under this heading include ASVAB test preparation, Military Flight Aptitude test prep, Officer Candidate Test Prep, and Career Guidance for military positions.

Armed Forces Day 

Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the creation of Armed Forces Day on August 31, 1949. This day replaced the individual Army, Navy, Marine Corp and Air Force Days that were once celebrated. This change took place after the unification of the Armed Forces under the Department of Defense. President Harry S. Truman gave a speech announcing the formation of Armed Forces Day as a time for citizens to come together and thank our military members for their patriotic service in support of our country. The day was first celebrated on May 20th, 1950. This year, on May 19th, we will honor the Army, Navy, Marine Corp., Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard and the Reserve units.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day, a day to honor the Civil War dead by decorating their graves. It’s difficult to prove the exact origins of the day but in 1868 General John A Logan signed an official proclamation in his General Order No. 11 and the day was first observed on May 30th of that year. After World War I the holiday was observed to honor all Americans who died while serving in the American military.