Military

Located a few miles north from the border of the United States and Mexico, the U.S. Coast Guard has maintained a continual presence in San Diego since 1935. It was in May of that year that a single air detachment, led by Cdr. Elmer F. Stone, began operating out of a commercial hangar at Lindbergh Field. From those humble beginnings, a base was constructed on 23 acres of tidelands adjacent to the airstrip and eventually formed into Sector San Diego. Through the years, their units and missions have evolved as new technology and changing world events dictated new missions for the Coast Guard. Today Coast Guard Sector San Diego stands as a model of interagency cooperation for the Department of Homeland Security as the Coast Guard works with other federal agencies to protect San Diego's maritime domain.

When the First World War thrust the United States into a dire global conflict, the Sacramento Valley was quick to mobilize. Many of America's first air units for combat were trained at Mather Field, while local farms filled some of the largest food supply orders for the Allies. Many women eschewed tradition and joined the industrial workforce at Liberty Iron Works, Southern Pacific Railroad and more. Though many banded together, the region's homefront was not without tension. Gripped by xenophobia, groups like the Liberty League formed local chapters to hunt spies, and local police forced displays of patriotism from suspected German sympathizers. With exclusive content from the Sacramento Public Library's Special Collections, librarians Amanda DeWilde and James Scott reveal the struggles and triumphs of the Sacramento region during the First World War.

In 1862, gold discoveries brought thousands of miners to camps along Grasshopper Creek. By 1864, the Federal government had carved the Montana Territory out of the existing Idaho and Dakota Territories. Gold from Montana Territory fueled the Union war effort, yet loyalties were mixed among the miners. In this compelling collection of stories, historian Ken Robison illustrates how Southern sympathizers and Union loyalists, deserters and veterans, freed slaves and former slaveholders living side by side made a volatile and vibrant mix that molded Montana. Discover how fiery personalities like Union Colonel Sidney Edgerton and General Thomas Francis Meagher fought to keep order in the newly formed frontier, while brave Confederate and Union veterans and their hardy families created an enduring legacy that helped shape modern Montana.

Plenty of tales of heroism have been shared about the Second World War, but few illustrate the anxiety and injustices endured on U.S. soil. Dick is a fatherless boy and the only man in a household of nine. Anthony is your average Italian kid from Boyle Heights. He's courting Stevie's baby sister, Lucy. Stevie's a go-getter whose reality is carved by his father's sink or swim devotion to LA business. Frankie's a glamor guy attending USC and the privileged son of a notorious Sicilian gambling czar. His kid sister Anna fears the same fate as the Japanese. War was never part of the plan. But more than simple war ties them. Italian-Americans made up the largest ethnic group to serve, yet sadly, more than half a million of their relatives living stateside became "enemy aliens." The Fight Abroad honors the military service of Los Angeles Italians, while The Fear Back Home centers on the hardships they faced along the California coast--property seizure, curfew and travel restrictions, forced relocation, shame, and even internment. The quiet stigma is no longer hidden.