A somber note ...

[Eagle]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/21/taps.buglers.ap/index.html

 

[Rob Mayercik]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/21/taps.buglers.ap/index.html

Sweet - musta been something to see, even better to hear. What a great thing for those folks to be a part of.

When I was in high school, me and a buddy from the band got asked to a nearby VFW to do the echoing Taps thing - I can't remember exactly what the occasion was, but I do remember it was well-received.

A "push-button" bugle?! Egad. I know they're keeping the tradition alive by doing this (which I think is a good thing), but seeing that conjured up memories of those horrible-sounding plastic things they sell to kids at parades (you know the ones - blow through them and get that horrible, high-pitched, multiple-wheeze sound) - hopefully they got a good recording to load into the things...

Rob

 

[theschwarz1]

EAGLE, good find, thats right near my house. I didnt know it was going on though, I shoulda been there. I was too busy doing 4-H program for the kids in my county.

 

[ChiXJeff]

Rob, where I grew up, Echoing Taps was a tradition on Memorial Day ceremonies.

 

[Rob Mayercik]

Rob, where I grew up, Echoing Taps was a tradition on Memorial Day ceremonies.

You know, that's probably what it was - thanks for the memory jump-start.

 

[XJ Dreamin']

My little brother was a 1st Lt. navigator on C-135 tankers. He flew over the Atlantic, providing refueling during 1991 Desert Storm. He was Cpt. select, waiting for a position as a navigator instructor when he died of Leukemia in 1994. I was a pall bearer and doing good staying all stoic and all until we pulled into the cemetery and I saw the color guard. It hadn't even occurred to me that he would have a color guard. He was my little brother - I wasn't thinking of him as a hero and all. It was just a ROTC squad and the kid missed a note half-way through, but there is no way a recorded taps could have filled that moment. It's just not the same.

Thanks, Eagle.

I wonder why I didn't see this on CNN.

 

[JTBOSCO]

That is awsome. Good find.

 

[Art Triggs]

I work with a band that a couple of members of the West Point Bugle corps play trumpet in, they go to probably 8-10 funerals a week, while it is part of their job, they both treat it as an honor to do this for the departed. It's sad that there aren't enough musicians available to do this, and that the Army has resorted to recorded music, either from a cd player or that electronic trumpet...... from what I have heard of it it doesnt sound bad, but it sure just isnt the same.... Thanks Eagle.

 

[Eagle]

It is sad that there aren't enough buglers to go around. There also aren't enough servicemen or VFW members available in a lot of areas to provide an honor guard at funerals. My first marriage didn't last very long, but it lasted long enough to attend my father-in-law's funeral. He was a Korean War vet, I believe. There was a full honor guard at the interment, complete with 21 gun salute (7 men, three volleys) and taps.

VERY emotional.