Wife Lila and I attended a military memorial service for the father of her best Florida friend, Nancy Fratz.
Robert P. Adams, 86, formerly of Ft. Pierce and Lake Worth, passed away on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 following an extended illness. Bobby was born on April 24, 1927. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Hazel Adams, and his children, Nancy (Thomas) Fratz and John (Claudia) Adams.
South Florida National Cemetery
The memorial service was held at the relatively new South Florida National Cemetery west of Lake Worth, Florida.
The cemetery’s website says South Florida National Cemetery is the fifth national cemetery built in Florida and the 125th in the national cemetery system. It covers 313 acres and is projected to be able to handle veterans’ needs for the next 50 years.
The site was used as farmland and for cattle grazing up until the time of its purchase by the National Cemetery Administration in 2002. The cemetery was opened for burials in 2007, and was formally dedicated on March 9, 2008.
I had read that many of the national cemeteries use recordings for Taps, but this is the first time I had encountered it at an outdoor service. The bugler only pretended to play while a recording provided the actual call. No matter how the sound was produced, it was moving.
Origin of Taps
The tune is a variation of an earlier bugle call known as the Scott Tattoo which was used in the U.S. from 1835 until 1860, and was arranged in its present form by the Union Army Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield, an American Civil War general and Medal of Honor recipient in July 1862 to replace a previous French bugle call used to signal “lights out.” Within months, Taps was used by both Union and Confederate forces. It was officially recognized by the United States Army in 1874 and became a standard component to U.S. military funerals in 1891. (From Wilipedia.)
I am so pleased at how our military helps the family honor and bury those that have served. Watching servicemen helping to bury servicemen is indeed moving. The sharp crack of the rifle salute, the ceremonial care of the burial flag being folded and offered to the spouse or family. But when ‘Taps’ is played I most always loose my composure. Taps is the farewell, the good-bye gesture for me and I don’t handle it well.
(You may have to copy and paste this into your browser)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OGO–In9NI&feature=player_embedded
Here is song played in it’s original form and done so beautifully. Notice how respectful and attentive the audience is during the performance and their eventual reaction.
Day is done,
gone the sun
from the earth, from the hills, from the sky.
All is well,
safely rest,
God is nigh.
Every time I hear taps play, I think of those words and have feelings like Dick.
Yes, there is a shortage of buglers for military services. Our neighbor, a fine high school athlete, gave up sports in order to be available to play “taps” at military funerals. They would pick him up and return him to school. They say he is really good. He refuses all monies they have offered him to do this. He is in college now and continues to honor our military dead.
What a wonderful story…a big Thank You to Mr. Adams.
taps does the same for me. Like each of our own lives, our day becomes done, and the thought that God in nigh is a good thought to carry to into the night.
Earlier this year when my father died we requested a military funeral. He was a WW II veteran, US Army Air Corps, 1st Lt. My dad was buried in a family cemetery in the rolling hills of central Missouri a few hundred yards from the house he was born in. It was a cold, but beautiful, sunny day. As the oldest child I was to receive the flag. When that time came, a young soldier in dress blues leaned forward, handed me the flag, looked me in the eye, and solemnly gave the Army’s version of the presentation speech: “This flag is presented on behalf of a grateful nation…” I almost broke up for the first time during that weekend. Then the bugler played Taps. It was very moving indeed.
When we were growing up in the 60’s and 70‘s in the turmoil of the Vietnam War, some of our generation thought poorly of our parents’ generation. Our parents “didn’t get it”. I am much happier now that our parents’ generation is remembered as “the greatest generation”.