Remembering Our Veterans...

Yet, Don's daily ritual is not just for the soldiers, it's also for his neighbors. They now take it as seriously as Don does. As soon as Don begins to play, his neighbors come outside and stand at attention.

"It seems to move people," said Don. "It has an effect on them."

WAHHHHHHHHHH!!! The most beautiful version of Taps I have ever heard was at the graveside of my father. It was a clear, quiet late September afternoon, and the bugler could NOT have done a better job. It was utterly magnificent. What a great thing for this guy. Pure awesomeness. :'(
 
mei lan said:
Yet, Don's daily ritual is not just for the soldiers, it's also for his neighbors. They now take it as seriously as Don does. As soon as Don begins to play, his neighbors come outside and stand at attention.

"It seems to move people," said Don. "It has an effect on them."

WAHHHHHHHHHH!!! The most beautiful version of Taps I have ever heard was at the graveside of my father. It was a clear, quiet late September afternoon, and the bugler could NOT have done a better job. It was utterly magnificent. What a great thing for this guy. Pure awesomeness. :'(
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Did you know that in a lot of cases, maybe all nowdays, TAPS is a recording played thru the trumpet?
I found this out at a funeral for a close friend at the Veterans's cemetery in Woodstock last year.
The soldiers trumpet malfunctioned and would not play.
After several attempts to get it working, the soldiers went on as if TAPS had been played.
It was kinda strange, but given who was being buried, kinda fitting, he woulda got a kick out of it.
A buddy of mine who was in the Marines, and plans to be buried there, told us that if that happens with him, we are to make sure that they do not finish the ceremony without getting a new trumpet and playing TAPS over him.
My responce was, what makes you think we will be there?
 
EWWWWWWWW...I did not know this!!! Imma pretend I still don't know it. (Saith the purist. :D )
 
stradial said:
mei lan said:
Yet, Don's daily ritual is not just for the soldiers, it's also for his neighbors. They now take it as seriously as Don does. As soon as Don begins to play, his neighbors come outside and stand at attention.

"It seems to move people," said Don. "It has an effect on them."

WAHHHHHHHHHH!!! The most beautiful version of Taps I have ever heard was at the graveside of my father. It was a clear, quiet late September afternoon, and the bugler could NOT have done a better job. It was utterly magnificent. What a great thing for this guy. Pure awesomeness. :'(
Click to expand...

Did you know that in a lot of cases, maybe all nowdays, TAPS is a recording played thru the trumpet?
Click to expand...


My husband and I were discussing this yesterday... there is a huge shortage of folks who know how to play it for funerals.
The playing of TAPS was the most moving part of my grandfather's funeral... I hate it that we do not have enough players.
We need to train young folks to provide this service of gratitude to our veterans... maybe to the ROTC could start a program ? ? ?


24 notes that mean so much... :love
 
They were still playing TAPS, not recorded, 3 yrs ago. I haven't been to another funeral where it would have been played since then.

Just over 2 yrs ago I went to a funeral where they had bagpipe players. I was really moved by that. I love bagpipes.
 
The service that provides the ceremony for Veteran funerals is a voluntary service. They have had cutbacks over the last few years. There are some buglers, trumpeters, and bagpipe players still, but the majority will get the playing of taps recorded. It is still a fitting and moving tribute to a fallen soldier.
 
lotstodo said:
The service that provides the ceremony for Veteran funerals is a voluntary service. They have had cutbacks over the last few years. There are some buglers, trumpeters, and bagpipe players still, but the majority will get the playing of taps recorded. It is still a fitting and moving tribute to a fallen soldier.
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I had been to 4 funerals at that cemetery in the 2 years before the one where the recording failed.
I am sure that at the other 4 TAPS was a recording, but if the mixup hadn't happened I still would not have known.
I have no problem with the recording. (just have a backup trumpet ready :) )
 
deewee said:
They were still playing TAPS, not recorded, 3 yrs ago. I haven't been to another funeral where it would have been played since then.

Just over 2 yrs ago I went to a funeral where they had bagpipe players. I was really moved by that. I love bagpipes.
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Bagpipes...lurve! And Daddy's funeral was five years ago, and this was an older guy, so maybe it was real. Imma pretend it was, anyway. ;)
 
Now I want to buy a bugle and learn how to play TAPS. Then buy bagpipes and learn to play them too.



Poor Marc.
 
I went to a military funeral in 1982 where Taps was played on a ghetto blaster. I kid you not. This was a military funeral detail from Ft. Sheridan, IL that conducted the military honors in Mt. Pleasant, MI. Their white gloves were also dirty. The cassette tape Taps was on warbled while it played. It was absolutely disgusting. I was an Army recruiter at the time and the deceased was a young lady another recruiter in my office had put in the Army. She died in a car accident in Germany. The Sergeant Major of the Central Michigan ROTC detachment also attended. He was a former Vietnam vet and a Green Beret. Let me tell you he was livid. He personally called that funeral detail's First Sergeant and chewed some butt. He was told they did not have a trumpet player and that's why the ghetto blaster was used. Tacky, real tacky. Had I known in advance, I could have contacted the high school and asked for their best trumpet player to play Taps instead. I'm sure they would have obliged.
 
Foxmeister said:
I went to a military funeral in 1982 where Taps was played on a ghetto blaster. I kid you not. This was a military funeral detail from Ft. Sheridan, IL that conducted the military honors in Mt. Pleasant, MI. Their white gloves were also dirty. The cassette tape Taps was on warbled while it played. It was absolutely disgusting. I was an Army recruiter at the time and the deceased was a young lady another recruiter in my office had put in the Army. She died in a car accident in Germany. The Sergeant Major of the Central Michigan ROTC detachment also attended. He was a former Vietnam vet and a Green Beret. Let me tell you he was livid. He personally called that funeral detail's First Sergeant and chewed some butt. He was told they did not have a trumpet player and that's why the ghetto blaster was used. Tacky, real tacky. Had I known in advance, I could have contacted the high school and asked for their best trumpet player to play Taps instead. I'm sure they would have obliged.
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GAH!!! I'm glad the Green Beret dude jumped their butts. The local American Legion post did Daddy's rifle volley and playing of Taps, but the flag part was handled by Atlanta NAS. The two sailors looked like they were 12 years old, but they were impeccably dressed, and their precision in the folding of the flag/presentation to my mother was awe-inspiring. They left before we could thank them, but we sent a donation to each. :sniff:
 
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