Uncle Sam: ‘I Need YOU to Play ‘Taps’ at a Veteran’s Funeral’

Uncle Sam: ‘I Need YOU to Play ‘Taps’ at a Veteran’s Funeral’

NEW YORK (Wireless Flash) – A shortage of buglers available to play “Taps” at the funerals of American war veterans is leading some civilians to start tooting their own horns. That’s according to writer and World War II veteran Richard H. Schneider, the author of a new book about the famous military tune, Taps: Notes From a Nation’s Heart (William Morrow). Schneider says more than 1600 WWII veterans die every day, and there are not nearly enough military buglers around to play all the funerals. So, some folks have begun grassroots efforts at getting civilians to take up the slack, including one Illinois man who calls his organization “Buglers Across America.” “Taps” has been a key part of military funerals for 140 years, and Schneider thinks the simple tune has endured for so long because it’s “hauntingly beautiful” and patriotic.

Tue 05-07-02