Military Funeral Honors Digital Bugle Taps

[cj222100]

My husband's funeral was today.He was an Airforce retiree.Totally lost it when they played this & the Airman knelt & gave me the flag.I had never seen this done before,and although sad,very beautiful and dramatic.Glad I found his discharge papers to have this.I am so grateful to the Airmen who performed this.God bless our troops,and God bless you Bob,who will be greatly missed

[LS1280Z]

I felt my Dad was short-changed by the service provided to him by the VA. He was WWII naval officer, but the honor guard they gave us was Army, they used the e-bugle, the 21 gun salute was aimed horizontally at us, and the one giving the flag to my Mom had a speech impediment...Then, and I'm not exaggerating, less than 5 seconds after the last words were spoken, the funeral director lady loudly and callously squawked out "This concludes the services, I ask that you please move to the waiting a

[boswellaboswell]

They should have just replaced the batteries..I would rather have a perfect TAPS played, then someone screw it up and hit wrong notes!!

[bcuda64]

As a volunteer with Bugles Across America here in Alaska, I play taps at approx. 15 ceremonies a year. I'm proud to be available to support the deserving families of our veterans. BOA has a web-site where buglers can be requested Nation-wide and now , even overseas. The digital should only be a last resort if the live bugler has a fatal accident enroute!

[prettymoongoddess82]

no none of you have a clue in the average week there are over 30+ funnerls for the military to proform in any given area and no most buglers dont know taps in full and mess it up. and would you rather have electronic or none at all because most of the time you request one they dont show!!!! dont talk smak unless you know what your talking about!!!

[rammsteinichwill1]

May whom ever lies in that casket rest in peace.

[l337m0x]

Is a bugler a person who plays TAPS at a military funeral?

[MarcusDarling4026]

Oh no!

NOT cool.

If I was the bugler, I'd be tempted to finish with my own voice if I had to- ..I couldn't in good conscience leave the tune unfinished at someone's funeral; the embarrassment would just have to be mine, to bear!

[docanaheim55]

The Digital Bugle is a Joke. 50 % of the time the darn thing doesn't work.

When my Veterans Organization procured one of these Battery- operated

Digital Bugles I took it under my wing to make sure that it was used only

when a Live Bugler was not available. High School Trumpeter's, do your

School, your town, and your Country a service. Join Bugler's Across America,

and let the Vets never be forgotten for their service to this country..

[frozenhell98]

a year ago a friend in our church died who was a vet of World War 2, and I was standing there at the graveyard at the funeral service then the bugler started playing taps and I started to cry. I tried to hide it but I couldnt.

[dwodno]

Last week I attended the funeral for one of my bosses who had been in the Navy during Nam. It was the first time I had heard ye old digital trumpet. As a former active duty Marine I was embarrassed. If we must have a fake trumpet can we at least spend a couple of bucks and get a recording that actually passes for taps?

[eazyrider17]

I'm AF and trying to assemble bugle corps at each base that are made up entirely of volunteers that come out on a case by case basis to perform the higher profile funerals. I can't stand the Ceremonial Bugle.

[TheSpencinator1]

I do not know why, but I actually expected something freaky to pop out and scare me.

[David37405]

One horror story I heard recently was at an indoors funeral. When the "bugler" did a snappy "horns up" the "Thing" went flying out of the bell and went rolling down the isle between the mourners. Since it had already been activated, it played Taps as it rolled along.

[eazyrider17]

@David37405 Oh NO!!!

[David37405]

Try going to the Bugles Across America website and enter your event information into the system. There's not shortage of buglers - it's just knowing where to find them.

[Fuhqoff13]

yea i have to use the bugle this weekend , i have funeral detail.... i hope it doesnt fall out, or skip or anything.... that would really be embarassing for me and the family...and for our fallen brother.

[MAC0192]

I really feel for this sailor. I have played TAPS hundreds of times. At funerals and memorial services. From funeral homes to grave side with driving snow and rain. The worst thing that can happen to the bugler is what happened to this young sailor, being unable to finish. She was performing an honorable service for the family and the departed. It is a shame that the Navy and other branches will not supply live buglers at the service. It always boils down to money. I now play for free.

[Fuhqoff13]

the army doesnt either.... i have to fake it with the digital bugle on saturday....i hope everything goes right. it will be very embarrassing if this happens....

[bigdidgerido]

Man, it's unfortunate. I do funeral detail in Austin, and in our whole reserve unit of about 200 guys, there is only one who can play, and he has a full time civilian job, so he can only do a few. When we do have real buglars, most of the time they are volunteers... college kids or a member of the church.

[jedmun1627]

I would rather have a real bugler miss a note or two rather than have a digiital recording anytime. I want a sincere person playing, not a recording when I have passed.

[Atralis]

I was on funeral detail at Fort Gordon. For retirees where we did the gun salute there was a serious attempt made to get one of the real buglars to come. These would end up being 9 man funerals counting the buglar. But lets say a guy served a few years, even in war, and then got out. His funeral is going to be a 3 man affair, and it will ALWAYS use the fake bugle. When the fake bugle works it sounds better than the army buglars, but when it doesn't work its a disaster.

[ReedHunterGreen]

ahhaha i like that phrase "toy bugles are for toy soldiers"

[JRHOOAH]

Do you know how hard it is to find a LIVE bugler?

[UpcomingJedi]

Its not really hard if they hand someone a horn and have them learn to play.

[crescenti0]

whats the diffrence form a regular bugler than? its the f***ing miltary of course u can find someone

[girlruthie]

Both my father and my husband are vets and they will both have taps played live at their funerals even if I have to go haul the first chair trumpet player from the local high school band out of class by the ear to make it happen.

[BugleBoy1776]

Go to bugles across america (dot) org and request a live bugler. Thousands of buglers ready to serve!

[metallitrunks]

Simply put, we in the honor guard simply do not have enough people for the amount of funerals we get. therefore this is the best option we have

[Dogmeat7]

well it would be nice to keep taps live but we need more Buglelers

[HERETICAL]

I just got selected for a one year honor guard duty. Man I was very disappointing to hear the bugle was digital and feel it dishonors the departed.

[vfwtapsplayer]

Last week I played taps for the 96th time at a military funeral. I bought a bugle and took lessons for over 2 years before I had nerve enough to play at a military funeral the first time. Am I flawless like a digital bugle? Nope. Am I real and can I give 150% for the family? Yes. What do we do if run low on riflemen for the 21 gun salute? Make some cardboard cutouts and have digital firing? I certainly hope not. Just my humble opinion.

[potter058]

you have no Idea how close they are to the digital F/P and it's not a 21 gun salute it's a 3 round volly.

[David37405]

Good point. Most people get 21-gun salute confused with 3-round volly. A 21-gun salute is 21 rounds fired one at a time. Your typical military funeral has a 3-round volly fired by suad that can vary in number(3 man, 5 man, 7 man, etc).

[sm00fy]

My grandpa just died and his funeral is in 2 days. He wanted a military funeral after his service in ww2. I really hope we get a real bugle player not some bullshit recording.

[DMS92592]

my grandfathers funeral was the same way...he was in the navy and suprisingly at the funeral..three people who are currently in the navy came and did a ceremony for him and taps played...it was so emotional because no one expected it

[metallitrunks]

would you rather people go without funeral honors because lack of bugle players? nothing in this world is perfect. shit messes up. but i would rather see everyone get a funeral honor ceremony and have taps played digital then have 80% miss out on the honors because they dont have enough people who can actually play

[UpcomingJedi]

Might as well just send someone with a cd player to set it up on top of the coffin and press 'play'.  Hell, at least that way they can have 'someone' playing and the guy saluting. Doing more with less.

Seriously, how hard is it to find a soldier who can go and play?

[metallitrunks]

its pretty damn hard. and until your assigned the task of running the program, i suggest you dont talk. the families are very very blessed with what we do, and if you knew the amount of funerals we actually perform, and how shorthanded we are, you'd have to accept the fact that some things just cant be done.

[UpcomingJedi]

keep your suggestions to yourself. If you can't do things its because of poor planning.

[metallitrunks]

im sorry, im not god, i dont control or plan when people die.

[mjp65]

A digital bugler is a device that the military uses because there are too many funerals and not enough buglers. It is just as good or better than the real thing. The bugler even has to use his breath to operate the the automated bugler.

[BugleBoy1776]

My friend you obviously don't know a thing about the digital bugle. It's sound can't come close to a real horn (maybe you're "tone deaf"?) and why would the fake bugler have to blow into something that runs on batteries?

[mjp65]

My father died this month. I seen it. i heard it. It is a good solution to the problem of too few buglers.

Google it, you will see why and how they blow. It is part of the illussion.

[kd6piz]

That's just it, it's just an illusion. It's fake, I would rather have it played over a pa system than to have someone fake it by just standing there holding a horn. It's a lie and Our Heroes deserve better than a Lie. As far as there being too few buglers, You need to do some googling yourself, there's Bugles Across America and other organizations like it that are more than willing to lend a hand if the local Military Honor Guard isn't able to provide the real thing.

[UpcomingJedi]

Yes, I agree with you but what I am saying is that there should be a local person who can play. When I was in the reserve, all they used was a whistle to signal colors, taps, etc. Even on the post nearby they didn't have an actual person and used a cassette to play over the PA. As much as you would see people F-ing off on the internet checking football scores, I would imagine there is at least ONE among them who could learn to play.

[mark442w30]

yeah its bull shit they can play real trumpets anymore

[NoChildofMine]

What is sick is the digital bugle is a real bugle with an electronic insert that can be removed.

[dvnbrennan1]

@BugleBoy1776 The idiomatic expression "tone deaf" very much so provides the evidence that you are unable to apprehend the holistic forms of music. "Tone deaf" is a phrase ignorant imbeciles use merely to berate others.

[David37405]

@dvnbrennan1

from Wikipedia: "Tone deafness is the lack of relative pitch, or the inability to distinguish between musical notes. Being tone deaf is the difficulty of being unable to correctly hear relative differences between notes that is not due to the lack of musical training or education. Tone deafness is also known variously as amusia, tune deafness, dysmelodia and dysmusia." I hope this helps dvnbrennaan1. I wouldn't want him to become an ignorant imbecile.

[dvnbrennan1]

@David37405 Do you hear the telephone ring? What about the doorbell? When someone honks their horn? I suppose you do. You are able to apprehend the tones but aren't able to discern the absolute pitch. For example, being unable to comprehend that a car horn is typically a F.

[flugel76]

@mjp65 there are PLENTY of buglers, it's just that the majority of them are civilians, and the armed forces don't want to pay them for their services.

[BugleBoy1776]

@flugel76 That's exactly why Bugles Across America was started. To get live bugler volunteers, many of which are uniformed veterans themselves, organized in a nationwide system. This allows any MFH provider to request a bugler on the website and an emailed "bugler request" is sent out to every registered member within 100 miles of the service. . . and it's all free. They do it just for the honor of serving the veteran.

[plesantly8]

@BugleBoy1776 I'm wanting to learn to play bugle and join Bugles Across America right now I only play tuba and soon to learn trombone.

[mfjasong]

@mjp65 WRONG!!!



[plesantly8]

@mjp65 So it's disrespectful to the deceased army veteran! I plan on being in the U.S. Airforce after Highschool , and I would want a real person playing a real bugle instead of one of those cheap digital ones!

[LastStarfighter0716]

Please i am confused what is a digital bugle, but i do remember at my friends funeral they had a real thing and nothing can ever come close to that.

[David37343]

A digital bugle has an electronic insert in the bell which uses a speaker and a recorded version of Taps. The sound is horrible, and the so-called bugler has to try and make it appear that they are really playing an instrument. pretty lame . . .

[taffgunna]

damn that happened to me. i thought i was the only one

[cheesemank44le]

Honestly it beats a soldier pressing the button on a CD player.

[albatrossforlife]

I agree. I had to be the button pusher once. That was embarasing as all hell. After that I purchased a bugle and learned to play taps. Even if you do mess up the family appreciates the real bugle.

[UpcomingJedi]

Ya, especially if you crack a note by accident. Really conveys the sorrow of the loss.

[pseudogigilo]

There's no doubt that live bugle is a nice touch, but with the dire shortage of buglers there are two options. either a CD with taps on a boom box, or an actual soldier with a digital bugle modeled by the US Army honor guard which plays a FLAWLESS version of taps. Bottom line....shit happens sometimes. You have to recover and drive on when it does. I've been on the NJARNG for quite a while and have done over 200 funerals. I've used the digital bugle, and think anyone would prefer that over a cd.

[mortovivente89]

portate rispetto

[TrumpetDude12]

you can't beat the real thing

[tapstrumpeter]

ha ha ha

Maybe they should try another bugle....

[David37343]

That's what happens when the batteries go dead . . .

[jtcjtc1]

WTF IS THAT?! They didn't even finish the song!