How many of these recommended military classics have you read?

Today is Memorial Day, a day that’s set aside for Americans to remember their war dead and the sacrifices that those service members made on the nation’s behalf.

With that in mind, I’m passing along today an outstanding recommended reading list that was compiled a few years ago by the U.S. Army Center for Military History. It’s called the U.S. Army Chief of Staff’s Professional Reading List.

According to the National Defense University Library, this list includes books that “will provoke critical thinking about professional soldiering and the unique role of land power; analysis and reflection on the past and the future; and a deep understanding of the Army and the future of the profession of arms in the 21st Century.”

I think civilians will benefit from the books on this list because they may better inform you about the nature of military service and the true cost of our nation’s defense.

Without further ado, here's the list in alphabetical order by title:

- 1776 by David McCullough
- The AEF Way of War: The American Army and Combat in World War I by Mark E. Grotelueschen
- American Military History, Vol. II: The United States Army in a Global Era, 1917-2003
- America’s First Battles, 1776-1965, edited by Charles E. Heller and William A. Stofft
- American Soldiers: Ground Combat in the World Wars, Korea and Vietnam by Peter S. Kindsvatter
- An Army at Dawn: The War in Africa, 1942-1943 by Rick Atkinson
- Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James McPherson
- Battleground Iraq: Journal of a Company Commander by Todd S. Brown
- The Black Regulars, 1866-1898 by William A. Dobak and Thomas D. Phillips
- Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare, edited by Geoffrey Parker
- Centuries of Service: The U.S. Army, 1775-2005 by David W. Hogan Jr.
- The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel Huntington
- Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq by Michael Gordon and Bernard Trainor
- Company Commander by Charles B. MacDonald
- Constitution of the United States
- Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice by David Galula
- The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 by Rick Atkinson
- Defeat Into Victory: Battling Japan in Burma and India, 1942-45 by Viscount William Slim
- Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies that Led to Vietnam by H.R. McMaster
- The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300-2050, edited by MacGregor Knox and Williamson Murray
- East of Chosin: Entrapment and Breakout in Korea, 1950 by Roy E. Appleman
- Eisenhower: A Soldier’s Life by Carlo D’Este
- The Face of Battle by John Keegan
- For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War by James M. McPherson
- The Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin America’s Soul by Michael Reid
- George C. Marshall: Soldier-Statesman of the America Century by Mark A. Stoler
- Knowing the Enemy: Jihadist Ideology and the War on Terror by Mary Habeck
- The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War, edited by Robert Strassler
- The Limits of Air Power: The American Bombing of North Vietnam by Mark A. Clodfelter
- Makers of Modern Strategy: From Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age, edited by Peter Paret
- On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society by Dave Grossman
- The Phillippine War, 1899-1902 by Brian McAllister Linn
- Recruiting for Uncle Sam: Citizenship and Military Manpower Policy by David R. Segal
- The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
- Savage Peace: Americans at War in the 1990s by Daniel Bolger
- The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power by Max Boot
- Summons of the Trumpet: U.S.-Vietnam in Perspective by Dave R. Palmer
- Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton by Martin Van Creveld
- Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen and Leadership in Wartime by Eliot A. Cohen
- Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decision Makers by Richard E. Neustadt and Ernest May
- U.S. Army Counterinsurgency and Contingency Operations Doctrine, 1942-1976 by Andrew Birtle
- The U.S. Military Intervention in Panama: Origins, Planning and Crisis Management, June 1987-December 1989 by Lawrence A. Yates
- Washington’s Crossing by David Fischer
- We Were Soldiers Once… and Young by Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway

In the end, how many of these military books have you had a chance to read? Which did you like or dislike? Which would you recommend and why? Let us know in the comments section below.