News

Students step up to honor soldiers

By R. Paige Kettner
Compass correspondent

"Day is done, gone the sun, from the lake, from the hill, from the sky ... All is well. Safely rest. God is nigh."

There is something beautiful and appropriate in the music we know as "Taps." Its sounds are melancholy, yet full of comfort and peace. What better tribute to our veterans at their final hour.

However, because military buglers are becoming extremely limited, other respectful candidates are stepping forward to offer the military honor.

This spring, students from Seton Catholic Middle School, Neenah, sought to make this gift to veterans and their families more assured. Seventh graders Max Meier and Frank Zaretzke and eighth grader Benjamin Gordon have each earned a Certificate of Proficiency, qualifying them to sound Taps at military honors ceremonies beginning this month. Additionally, all participated in the Sound Taps, Wisconsin program with Meier placing second and Zaretzke placing third in the state-wide competition.

Sound Taps, Wisconsin (www.soundtapswisconsin.com) is designed to encourage students to assist their local communities at military funeral honors. With the scarcity of trained buglers, only one in four veterans will have a bugler to sound Taps for their funerals. There are only 21 military buglers in Wisconsin, so students are the next best source of capable buglers.

Students who serve as certified buglers can earn $25 tuition vouchers every time they sound Taps at an actual military funeral through the Taps Tuition Voucher Bill, signed into law in 2003. The ongoing development of this program is gaining headway with student eligibility ranging from middle school to high school and onto college levels.

"We're all in our school and jazz bands ... and our music teacher, Mr. Brad Curran, introduced the trumpeters to this opportunity to be a part of Sound Taps," said Meier. "It sounded like fun and a sure thing to be certified."

Zaretzke said he "thought that I could honor people by playing Taps, because they put their lives on the line for us so we could live comfortably."

The young trumpeters soon discovered that becoming proficiency-certified was not just a snap. It required weeks of practice and hours of hard work with Curran to learn Taps and one additional song for the competition. All three selected the hymn, "Eternal Father Strong to Save." Learning the compositions was only one aspect of their effort; they also had to be skilled in timing of specific notes - some held for 50-55 seconds. The Taps tempo was critical as well.

"It was a lot of hard work," Gordon said, "to get the effects of the notes just perfect, or as close to perfect as possible so that they touched people's hearts."

"There's a lot to think about with breathing and timing," Zaretzke said. "All are important elements for proficiency measurements ... You want Taps to sound like it was written ... That's not always easy. But, we like challenges."

These youth (ages 13 & 14) are like other teens in their love of sports. music and fun with friends. Meier plays "lots of soccer in a Premiere League that travels all over the state." Gordon loves to ride his bike and "has tracked over 500 miles from last summer to now just trying to get some exercise and have fun." Zaretzke likes to swim and "anything with water."

There's another thing they have in common: grandfathers and uncles who served in combat - WWII, the Korean War and Vietnam War - and are surviving veterans. For this reason and others, these young men wanted to become Certified Taps buglers.

"This is an important thing to do for families," said Meier, "because everyone who serves in the military deserves a funeral that is honorable and proper."

"I feel I am in a good position to make others happy and be able to (help them) go through their hard times, even for just a while, by playing Taps," Zaretzke said.

American Legion Commander Dennis Giles of Post #38, Appleton, said it's very hard to get people to play Taps for military funerals.

"So many people have had to use cassette players," he said. "It's nicer if you have a real bugler. A personal bugler adds so much more dignity to the military service; it adds so much more in memories for the families."

Max, Ben and Frank all know they will need to work hard to maintain their proficiency to stay with Sound Taps, Wisconsin. They also believe it's been an experience that has touched their lives and will continue to do so - beginning with their first call. They encourage other student trumpeters to consider the challenge and work with their band instructors to become a part of this program.

"When we get our first call to sound Taps," Gordon said, "we'll be nervous, but we'll be ready."