A fading tradition
Live buglers are being replaced by recordings at military funerals as the number of players drop and demand increases
Jennifer Fitzgerald, a former 1st Cavalry Division band member, is one of few live buglers in Central Texas who perform Taps at military funerals and Memorial Day ceremonies. She will be playing at a service in Kempner on Monday. Courtesy photo
DAVID STONE | OUR TOWN TEMPLE
A lone bugler’s somber sound can be emotionally stirring — often bringing goosebumps and tears to listeners. Unfortunately, a growing number of these performances come from recorded devices stashed inside the bell of a horn instead of from live buglers.
The bugle call signals the end of a day. It’s also a salute to veterans whose sun has set for a final time.
Taps is one of America’s most recognized songs and few tunes are more apt to stir emotion. It is played at military funerals and serves as the final call for “lights out” on U.S. military installations and ships.
As America’s veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam age, there has been an increasing demand for Taps buglers. That demand greatly outweighs the number of available players, clearing the way for technology to fill the void.
“This is really a sore spot for me,” said Jennifer Fitzgerald, a former 1st Cavalry Division band member who now owns and operates a pet boarding facility in Lampasas. “A shortage of bugle players has led to an increase in the use of electronic devices to honor the fallen. The problem is, most people at a funeral or ceremony don’t realize they are listening to a recording. The device is placed inside the bell of a horn and someone stands there and pretends to play Taps. It’s very misleading, and America’s heroes deserve better.”
The use of these digital devices saddens Fitzgerald and other buglers, and requests for live bugling have dropped significantly as the devices grow in popularity.
“As a veteran, it hurts that recordings are used instead of a live version,” she said. “I know there are cutbacks in the military, but this shouldn’t be one of them.”
According to information provided by the Fort Cavazos public affairs office, the Department of Defense implemented its Honoring Those Who Served program in January 2000 to provide dignified military funeral honors to veterans who defended our nation.
Honors typically consist of two or more uniformed service members folding and presenting a US flag to the family and the playing of Taps. According to DOD regulations, Taps can be performed by a live instrumentalist such as a bugler, or a recorded version may be used. A gun salute by a rifle squad is reserved for veterans who retired from military service, service members killed on active duty, and Medal of Honor recipients.
Jari Villanueva, a former bugler at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., agrees with Fitzgerald but said Taps recordings can serve a need.
“The military can no longer keep up with providing live players, so an electronic device is used as a substitute,” Villanueva said. “Veteran services organizations now use it regularly.”
“The device is used when a live player can’t be located,” he said. “Department of Defense directives call for it after a search for a live performer turns up empty. It’s sad, but it’s better than silence.”
Both Fitzgerald and Villanueva pointed out that live buglers may be in short supply, but the players out there are willing to perform. Most players hold jobs that limit their availability. Fitzgerald, for instance, owns a business and most of her bugling comes on weekends and is limited to events in the immediate area..
Organizations like Bugles Across America, Taps for Veterans and Houston Taps Buglers for Veterans are involved in thousands of services each year, but they don’t have the manpower to fill requests during the week.
To help keep the tradition of bugling alive, Fitzgerald volunteers as often as she can to play Taps at military funerals throughout Central Texas, especially at Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Killeen.
Fitzgerald has been playing Taps since childhood, and she played it often while serving at Fort Hood; at Fort Drum, New York; and in Europe.
“I used to be a member of Bugles Across America, a volunteer group that performs Taps at military funerals,” she said. “But now I mostly play in the local area. Bugles Across America plays all over, especially around Houston. I have pets and it’s hard to get off work for a long trip.”
“I play for free — all the family has to do is ask,” she said. “But the use of recorded devices is so common I don’t get as many requests as I did a few years ago.”
“In my mind, I know the good Lord wants us to use our talents to bless others,” she said. “That is why playing Taps is such an honor and privilege.”
Jason Browne, a former Marine who volunteers with Houston Taps Buglers for Veterans, said he performs Taps at about one funeral every three weeks.
“We have eight buglers in our organization, and we just aren’t as busy as we used to be,” he said. The reason? It’s definitely not because of a shortage of funerals for passing veterans.”
“The recorded devices are really popular,” he said. “We all work during the week and are available for Taps funerals on weekends. But cemeteries around the state have multiple funerals for veterans during the week and the devices are common.”
“The devices are so popular that requests are tapering off,” Browne said. “I would do more if requested. I’m ex-military, and to me it’s the right thing to do.”
Browne began playing trumpet when he was in sixth grade and continued playing even after he joined the Marine Corp.
“I would practice in my room and no one would say a word,” he said. “But when we were about to deploy to 29 Palms (California) for exercises, I was told to bring my trumpet because I was going to be doing calls.”
Although he was a truck mechanic in the Corp, he was thrust into military horn duty again in 1997.
“We were on the USS Tarawa doing maneuvers in the Persian Gulf,” he said. “One of our helicopters had mechanical failure and crashed, killing six Marines. Word got around that I played trumpet, and I played Taps at a memorial service on board. It was my first funeral.”
Villanueva said Taps hasn’t always been the “lights out” call for the U.S. military.
“Prior to the Civil War, the traditional call at day’s end was a tune borrowed from the French,” he said. “Its translated title was ‘Lights Out.’”
But, according to Villanueva, in July 1862 after a bloody battle where he lost 600 men and was wounded himself, Union Gen. Daniel A. Butterfield called a brigade bugler to his tent. He felt that “Lights Out” was too formal. Still, he wanted to honor his men.
Oliver Norton, the bugler, said Butterfield showed him some notes scribbled on the back of an envelope and asked him to sound them on his bugle, Villanueva said.
Norton played the notes as written several times. Butterfield grabbed the envelope and made some adjustments — lengthening some notes and shortening others. He then returned the paper to Norton and directed him to sound that call in place of the regulation “Lights Out,” according to Villanueva’s tale.
Norton said the music was “beautiful” and was heard far beyond the Union camp. The next day, Norton was approached by buglers from nearby brigades asking for copies of the music, Villanueva said.
“He made several copies of the piece, and the call was gradually taken up throughout the Army of the Potomac.”
In 1874, Taps was officially recognized by the U.S. Army and it became a standard at military funerals in 1891.
“In 2013, Taps was designated by Congress as the national song of remembrance,” Villanueva said.
“There is something beautiful and appropriate in this wonderful call,” he said. “Its strains are melancholy, yet full of rest and peace. Its echoes linger in the heart long after its tones have ceased to vibrate in the air.”
Fitzgerald said she hopes more young musicians learn Taps so more live performances can be held and heard at ceremonies and funerals for soldiers and sailors.
“Traditionally, Taps is played on the bugle or clarion, but it doesn’t have to be,” she said. “I play it on my bugle and my coronet. Trumpets also work fine — any instrument is better than a recording.”
“So many people don’t realize they are listening to a recording of Taps. I had a friend recently tell me how wonderful the bugler was at a funeral she attended. She even sent a photo. I enlarged the image, and sure enough there was a device tucked inside the bell. That’s very sad.”