About 800 military bases outside the U.S.Major wars and conflicts in which the U.S. This year, Bremerton celebrated its 73rd Armed Forces Day Parade.
The longest, continuously-running, Armed Forces Day Parade in the USA is held in Bremerton, Washington. It was first celebrated on -five years after WWII ended and one month before the beginning of the Korean War. The Space Development Agency is one of many agencies within the DOD.Īrmed Forces Day was created on 31 August 1949 when Harry S. The Coast Guard is within the Department of Homeland Security, created in 2002. The first four are within the Department of Defense (DOD), created in 1947. The five branches are the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard. How does Armed Forces Day differ from other military holidays and observance days? It celebrates all five branches of the military on the third Saturday of May, annually. The repertoire includes “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” “Tattoo” (a bugle call), the official songs of all five branches, “The Liberty Bell” (a march by John Philip Sousa), “Over There,” and “You’re a Grand Old Flag.” The audience sang along and laughed at a few jokes. I played 24 patriotic marches, songs, and bugle calls on four instruments: my Getzen trumpet, Super Olds cornet, Getzen field trumpet (bugle), and Jupiter pocket trumpet. (Please see my blog article of 15 August 2021.) But that changed when Mindy Milton, Active Living Program Director, booked me to return for the second time to Merrill Gardens at the University in Seattle on Saturday. Until this year, I’d never been asked to perform my one-hour trumpet show, “I Stand for the Flag,” on Armed Forces Day. He made his mother, father, sister, and I proud. I had never met him or his family in person until we introduced ourselves and sat together in the audience at The Royal Room in the Columbia district of south Seattle on 15 May. As of the recital date, all our lessons had been on. He began lessons with me in March 2020, just as Covid-19 struck the USA and lockdowns forced students out of their school classrooms and online. Despite the common butterflies all performers experience, he played confidently and expertly with a nice tone. Through isolation and repetition, we worked out all the frustrating kinks, and he mastered them all. Next, there are several accidentals (all sharps). Then, there is the time signature–6/8, with its many triplets throughout. In the trumpet key of C (Concert Bb) near the end of the piece, the high Es are in the top of the range where he plays confidently. It not only is a great, patriotic song, but also it presented some technical challenges for him. Other musicians were a piper and drummer from the Northwest Junior Pipe Band, playing “Scotland the Brave,” “The Rowan Tree,” “Battle’s O’er,” “Amazing Grace,” and “Going Home.”įor more information about these venues, please go to these websites: I did the same show at The Bellettini in downtown Bellevue and at Fairwinds Redmond.īut before performing in the afternoon in Redmond on Memorial Day, I also sounded three bugle calls in the morning at Veterans Park in Lynnwood: “Assembly,” “Echo Taps,” and “To the Color.” Lukas Breen sounded the echo part in “Echo Taps.” He is an Electrician’s Mate 2nd Class on active duty in the U.S. It is a collection of about two dozen patriotic marches, songs, and bugle calls. Native American Peter Ali improvised solos on two of his flutes twice during the ceremony.Īt Skyline Towers retirement community in downtown Seattle, I performed my one-hour trumpet show, “I Stand for the Flag,” again in uniform. 30 May – Fairwinds Redmond – second appearanceĪt the ceremony at ECC, dressed in my VFW uniform, I sounded two bugle calls: “To the Color” inside the Black Box Theatre and “Taps” outside near the Boots to Books and Beyond monument.30 May – Veterans Park, Lynnwood – tenth appearance.28 May – The Bellettini in Bellevue – first appearance.27 May – Skyline Towers in Seattle – second appearance.26 May – Edmonds Community College (ECC) in Lynnwood – my sixth appearance.I sounded bugle calls at two venues and presented my one-hour trumpet show, “I Stand for the Flag” at three different retirement communities in four different cities: This year, as usual, there were lots of opportunities surrounding Memorial Day. – Personal Embouchure Training ExerciserĮvery year when public demand peaks for a bugler/trumpeter, I’m happy to hop-skip-and-jump all over the Greater Seattle area to perform. o Special Trumpet Sound Effects–Part Two.o Special Trumpet Sound Effects–Part One.o Know Your Horn: The Brassy, Sassy Trumpet.o Do You Pass the Trumpeter's Breathing Test?.o Washington Music Educators Association.o Audition Materials – All-State & All-Northwest Honor Groups.