I was very fortunate to grow up with a father who was a Veteran.  My dad served in WWII and was part of the 76^th Infantry Division where he served both as a soldier and also a musician.  As a kid, I spent a good amount of time around WWII Vets, as a lot of his friends served.  He was also involved in the local American Legion Post as well as later in his life working for a veterans in need organization.  So, needless to say, my education of the importance of our military and those who served was instilled in me at a young age.

When I was in the sixth grade at the Alpha Public School, I began playing Taps for military funerals.  At that time, the American Legion Post #446 of Alpha, NJ had a color guard detail that would attend funerals to provide the military honors for a veteran.  It was around that time that I was beginning to play in the Alpha Legion Band, which my dad directed. So, when it came time to play Taps, I would bring my uniform to school and when my dad came to sign me out, I would change and be on the way.  This opportunity continued throughout my high school years.  If my class schedule permitted, it was important to me to go and play.   To this day, if called, I will try to accommodate the request if I possibly can.

Although the summer of 2020 will forever be known as the “Summer of Covid,” it did provide me with a great opportunity to pair the love I have for the Battle of Gettysburg and The Civil War with the honor and duty of performing Taps. The Lincoln Fellowship, in partnership with Taps for Veterans, and the Gettysburg National Military Park, presented a nightly program called 100 Nights of Taps every evening from Memorial Day through Labor Day at the Soldier’s Monument in the Gettysburg National Cemetery. The event is open to anyone.  To be considered to perform, one must submit an application to the committee who makes the decision on who is selected to perform.  This year, buglers representing 17 states were selected to come to Gettysburg. I had the honor of performing on July 31^st and again on September 4^th .

The Gettysburg National Cemetery was created shortly after the battle. After 3 days of fighting in the tiny town on July 1-3, 1863, the result of the conflict would forever change the landscape and importance of the community.  The aftermath of the battle left carnage and destruction throughout the town. Most of the farms were decimated and many farmers lost everything. With over 7000 Union and Confederate deaths in just three days of fighting, prominent Gettysburg attorney David Wills led a group to acquire land and establish a national cemetery for the battle on what is known as Cemetery Hill.  With a unified effort throughout the North, the creation of the cemetery happened very quickly. The official dedication occurred on November 19, 1863, which featured President Abraham Lincoln and the delivery of the immortal Gettysburg Address.  The centerpiece of the cemetery would be the soldier’s monument, which would not be completed until 1865.  The impressive 60 foot tall monument was designed as an allegory, which would tell a story of peace and plenty following a historic struggle. There are over 3500 Union soldiers buried here as well as other veterans from the Civil War to Vietnam.

For the nightly program, the buglers stand on the base of the monument to play.  It is awe inspiring to be standing on such an important and solemn location for our American history.  To honor those who served in the turning point battle of the Civil War, a war, which forever changed our country to make all men equal is a proud moment for me. The grounds of the cemetery played an important role in the battle, one that you can feel upon entering the cemetery. 

I was thankful to have been chosen for this honor.  It was a very special and significant moment in my life, one, which I will never forget.  I was overjoyed to be able to go out for a second opportunity in September.  I look forward to applying again in 2021 and a hope to have an opportunity to once again pay respect to those who served…

This passion and dedication to music led to the formation of the Arturo Sandoval Institute (ASI) in 2012.  The Institute is focused on Educating, Inspiring and Supporting music programs and students without regard to financial circumstances.  The ASI can be found at www.arturosandovalinstitute.org.

One great thing they do is to provide 90 minute videos of clinics featuring Arturo with a great musician of our time.  These videos are then uploaded free to Youtube. What a great opportunity for anyone to sit and watch 2 great musicians discuss playing techniques, and anything else music related.

Below are some of the videos featured.  I have personally found these to be of a great educational value.  The fact that I can sit and watch these videos feeling like I am getting a private lesson myself is just awesome.  Plus, this is all for FREE! Thank you to Arturo and the ASI for providing this great learning tool for all of us.

Arturo with Wayne Bergeron

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhT6TtlqXtg&t=19s

In this video Arturo and Wayne share stories of the music business and discuss

playing techniques.  Highly recommended!

Arturo Sandoval Master Class Video #1 – The Warm Up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1r4fpTDIkQ

Arturo Sandoval Master Class Video #2 – Listening

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VdYmj8n4TE

These 2 videos are much shorter and give great insight to Arturo’s warm up

philosophy as well as his listening approach to jazz. Both are great!

 
Arturo with Malcom McNab and Gary Grant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrOwe9dM1lI

A video featuring Malcom and Gary with special guest Chuck Findley. Four

legends of trumpet talking and discussing the business!

My father proudly served in the Army during World War II in the 76th Infantry Division. Later in life, he also volunteered for the local Veteran’s Affairs Office and served as Commander of the American Legion Post 446. Growing up in a solid Christian family, I learned my value system and began to understand what it meant to be an American Patriot. One way this happened for me which opened my eyes to our country began in the 6th grade. When I was a 6th grader, I started playing TAPS for military funerals. My dad would take me out of school and I would play TAPS at the cemetery at the conclusion of the grave site service. The experience of knowing that TAPS is the final salute to that individual was inspiring. Watching the firing squad, family and those in attendance stand at attention honoring the deceased as I played was incredibly powerful as well as adding a lot of pressure to not make a mistake! It really cemented in my mind the feelings for our nation. I’ve played TAPS hundreds of times since and still today, if available, will volunteer my time and go anywhere I need to play for a funeral, service or Veteran’s Day program. It pains me to see our Veteran’s not have a proper military funeral. This experience at such an early age began to shape who I am today. I developed a great respect and honor for our Veteran’s and our country.

I feel far too often many take our country for granted. Even though I did not serve in the Armed Services, I have great respect for those who did and the impact their contribution has had on our country. As a teenager, I was always involved in parades on Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. They were always great displays of patriotism of those who love our country. My dad also served as a local councilman in our community which gave me a little insight on our government and how it works. Again, as a young kid, these images and experiences shaped my love for our country.

As I look at the state of our Country recently, it has become very clear to me that America is a nation in crisis. Everyone has an opinion and if you don’t agree with someone’s, problems arise. You are called out as being some sort of prejudiced person. Our racial divide has grown and protest groups have formed with the perception that they are here to solve the problem. Yet, there is a strong undercurrent of questionable methods to achieve the goals of these groups. When America saw the Civil Rights protests of the 1950’s begin, the leader, Dr. Martin Luther King always advocated for peaceful demonstrations or actions. One famous example happened in 1955 which made history for the Civil Rights movement. Rosa Parks, a seamstress who routinely took public transportation, was arrested for not giving up her seat on a public bus to a white person on her way home from work on a cold evening in December. Dr. King jumped to her defense and the next day at a church meeting organized a protest in a way that affected the situation causing positive change to occur and the Civil Rights Movement was changed forever. What he proposed was a boycott of the public transit system immediately. Well, the next day and thereafter, the bus companies began to struggle. Many of their riders were African-Americans and without them on the bus, their income dropped. One year later, the Federal Court ruled against busses segregated by color and allowed anyone to board a public bus at any time regardless of race or color. This effective protest by Dr. King proved to be successful. It was peaceful and saw results.

It seems to me there are some that feel successful protests are those where damage to public property occur, fires are started and unruly behavior is celebrated. But does that really reflect on the manner and style of Dr. King? I feel the key ingredient that Dr. King always kept as his focus was his Faith. His protests and marches were created with lawful behavior only considered. Do the protests we’ve seen in places like St. Louis, Baltimore and others sound like they are filled with a Faith and lawful centered focus? Random attacks on police seemingly to justify a revenge behavior?

But I ask, why has so much of our society turned away from God and his message of Love and Peace? Instead, choosing a path of moral depravity which is not going to solve any problem. It is only going to continue to create social unrest and never drive to find peaceful solutions to America’s problems. Perhaps our nation needs a healthy dose of the what our founders meant when the sovereignty of our country was formed Under God. If we constantly continue to live in the “what makes me feel good” society as opposed to what God wants from us, we are choosing the future of our country…