The 1973 National Personnel Records Center Fire

The St. Louis fire destroyed between 16 and 18 million records. The complete account and heartening reconstruction efforts can be read at the National Archives-St. Louis website. The National Archives has been able to recover all or in part of 6.5 million records. This St. Louis Dispatch article describes the ongoing "labor of love and duty."

World War II Remembered as veterans share their accounts

"World War II Remembered, a book of 56 recollections by “the greatest generation,” published by Kendal at Hanover, a retirement community in New Hampshire, rose over 6.6 million percent (to #6 from #396,999) because of a story on last night’s NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams." The success of this new book was reported on the EarlyWord.com blog/website, a favorite site of Niles Young Adult Librarian, Donna Block.

Free Tax Assistance for Combat Zone/Hazardous Duty Area Veterans

The Illinois CPA Society's CPAs for the Public Interest, in partnership with the Internal Revenue Service, offers the Military Service Tax Preparation Project to provide free personal income tax return filing assistance to members of the US Armed Forces who have recently returned or are still serving on active duty in a combat zone or qualified hazardous duty area. This news item was provided by Niles Reference Librarian, Darlene Fox, who regularly edits the Niles Reference Department's blog Good To Know.