Trumpeters sound final call honoring military, veterans

Photo By Eben Boothby | Spc. David Dorfman prepares to sound taps at a military funeral at the Bicentennial Chapel on Redstone Arsenal. (Photo Credit: Sgt. Eben Boothby)  

HUNTSVILLE, AL, UNITED STATES

03.02.2016

Story by Lisa Simunaci 

U.S. Army Materiel Command   

Morrison has sounded taps at hundreds of military funerals and memorials. He rendered the difficult honors in Afghanistan, where the grief of units was raw. He trumpeted from the flight line while flag-draped coffins were loaded for their stateside destination.

But no experience was more difficult for him than a memorial he attended for a young Army private who was killed in action. The Soldier's high school, from which he recently graduated, hosted the service.

The high school gym was packed with his friends and classmates. "They were all teenagers," Morrison said, recalling the mourners trying to process the loss. "Sometimes it's just not possible to disconnect from people facing the harsh realities of war and death, especially when it touches such young lives."

It's those instances where Morrison calls upon his training, and where he continues to learn the lessons he passes on to his own Soldiers.

"These experiences are very personal in nature. But we have to make it as impersonal and businesslike as possible," he said. "Not to sound cold, but it's our job -- our business. It has to become something we can separate from. I take all that into account when I'm giving advice and instruction."

Morrison is among six trumpet players in the AMC Band who provide ceremonial bugle services for military and veteran funerals throughout the region. The band supported 39 requests in the first quarter of this fiscal year. That figure is higher than the annual number of the band's funeral missions for 16 of the past 17 years.

Band officials attribute the increase to their own networking with funeral homes and veterans organizations to support requests that come from outside the regional casualty office.

"These are important missions," AMC Band Commander Chief Warrant Officer 3 James Bettencourt said. The commander said he was disheartened to learn that many local services were using recordings of taps, rather than a live performance.

"Our goal is to support them whenever we can and to honor as many as we can," Bettencourt said.
The band's trumpet players stand by to answer the calls for support. Each embraces the importance of solemnity for this duty that goes far beyond the notes on a page.

"For most well-trained musicians, [taps] is a fairly approachable piece," noted Staff Sgt. James Old, a trumpet player with the AMC Band. "But it is really difficult to play because of the environment we're in. It evokes a lot of emotion."

Old said it's crucial to balance duty and reverence.

"While we're ultimately there to do a job, we are honoring a serviceman or servicewoman who has given their life to this country."

Spc. Joshua Symborski has sounded taps for hundreds of burials. Most were performed while he was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, one of the few military installations with a national cemetery on site. Sometimes there, he would play taps 10 times a day.

While it may be easier to perform in a setting where it's played more often, "it takes a tremendous amount of focus," Symborski said.

Symborski's toughest assignment was playing taps at a memorial for the Bataan Death March, with about 7,000 people attending. "I wanted to do well," he recalled. "At the same time, I didn't want to hold anything back."

Taps historian and bugler Jari Villanueva is considered the country's foremost expert on military bugle calls and was the curator of the Taps Exhibit at Arlington National Cemetery. He said the sounding of taps along with the flag presentation are the two minimum requirements the DOD sets for military funerals.

"It is an honor every veteran of the military has earned," he said.

Villanueva said he applauds the AMC Band for its dedication to support missions because of the impact and message conveyed through a bugler.

"I'm pleased to see that the band commander is using live musicians to help support the military funerals," he said. "It is a sound that cannot be truly replicated by a recording. The music comes from the heart through the horn."

• Date Taken: 03.02.2016
• Date Posted: 02.03.2017 14:54
• Story ID: 222483
• Location: HUNTSVILLE, AL, US