 take your post please be seated it is lovely to see so many people here to celebrate one of our own here this morning so thank you for joining us we gather here today on hallowed ground the final resting place of one of our own the most famous musician in the Marine Corps and certainly one of the most iconic musicians in American history John Philip Sousa he was laid to rest here in historic Congressional Cemetery on March 10th bringing to close an illustrious career that began as a Marine Corps apprentice musician and that ended as the internationally renowned March King the men and women of the United States Marine Band are here today to commemorate his life and legacy I would like to begin by sincerely thanking the Congressional Cemetery staff for their steadfast support of this event as well as their careful tending to this historic site year-round I would also like to gratefully acknowledge any relatives of John Philip Sousa here today or watching via the live stream we are honored that you would join us please stand if you are able and be recognized you honor us with your presence thank you finally to all former members of the Marine Band in attendance and watching at home thank you for being with us here today John Philip Sousa was born 169 years ago today on November 6th 1854 at 636 G Street southeast right around the corner from the historic Marine barracks his father Antonio was a trombonist in the Marine Band the young Sousa received his first instruction in music at just six years old his studies eventually included lessons on piano violin flute cornet alto horn baritone trombone and last but not least in composition during Sousa's busy childhood the Civil War was raging and Washington was an armed camp the sounds of military music filled the city and had a profound effect on a young Sousa his father would often bring young John Philip to Marine Band rehearsals with him and the budding musician was even permitted to play crash cymbals or alto horn with the band on occasion the account of the beginning of Sousa's Marine Corps career sounds almost too fantastic to believe when only 13 years old Sousa was scouted he was approached by the leader of a circus band who heard him practicing the violin impressed with his ability the band leader persuaded a young Sousa to secretly run away from home and join the circus troop for a tour starting the very next morning unfortunately his father found out and put to bed that plan and the next morning on June 9th 1868 he escorted Sousa to Marine Barracks Washington and had him enlisted as an apprentice musician in the United States Marine Band foiled after serving almost seven years with the Marine Band Sousa decided to leave the Marine Corps and strike out on his own he began a very successful career performing and conducting with theater orchestras of Washington DC in Philadelphia while also beginning to write and publish his own original compositions five years after leaving the Marine Band the combatant of the Marine Corps tracked him down and offered him the position of director of the president's own and despite the fact that things were going quite well in his civilian career at that point Sousa jumped at the opportunity in October 1st 1880 the age of 25 he enlisted once more in the Marine Corps with service with the Marine Band this time as its 17th director for the next 12 years Sousa led the Marine Band and established it as one of the premier musical ensembles in the country and the reputation quickly began to spread well beyond the nation's capital and it was also during this time that Sousa began to put those composition lessons to use and began to write marches that would earn him the title of the March King in 1888 was Semper Fidelis the first March that you heard this morning which was dedicated to the offers officers and enlisted of the United States Marine Corps the Thunderer and the Washington Post followed shortly thereafter written in 1889 toward the end of his tenure as director Sousa was determined to regularly share the talents of the band's musicians with those beyond the border of Washington DC so in 1891 after receiving permission directly from president Benjamin Harrison Sousa took the band on its first ever national concert tour traveling through 13 states in New England and the Midwest the trip was a tremendous success and the second tour was scheduled the following year which took the band all the way to the West Coast these tours soon became an incredibly important part of the band's identity and its ability to connect directly with the American people and it is a practice that we proudly continue to this day after more than a decade as director Sousa's growing popularity and success prompted him to leave the Marine band to form his own civilian band he received his discharge following a special farewell concert at the White House on July 30th 1892 and he immediately formed the Sousa band for the next nearly four decades he led the most civilian successful civilian concert band in history making annual tours of North America for European tours and in 1910 and 1911 a monumental tour of the world during his lifetime and beyond Sousa had an immense impact on America's artistic culture and music but perhaps the greatest and most enduring influence Sousa has had was as an unabashed cheerleader of the American spirit and his music continues to inspire and stir American patriotism all across this nation and beyond on a personal note I find great resonance in the fact that John Philip Sousa and I are both second generation Americans born to immigrant parents who came to this great nation for opportunity and freedom as a Taiwanese American citizen I am honored to have the chance to be a steward of this venerable institution and along with Sousa reinforce the ideals that this nation was founded upon that all of us are created equal and capable of contributing to the fabric of this place we call home so today on John Philip Sousa's birthday the men and the women of the United States Marine Band are once again honored to gather at his final resting place to lay a wreath and grateful recognition of all that he gave to the Marine Band to the Marine Corps and to the nation following the wreath laying we will celebrate his legacy by performing his most famous march our national march the stars and stripes forever thank you