A Personal Note to Thank Our Veterans As a musician, I began my lessons on the snare drum at age six, because a snare drum lived in my bedroom. My Dad encouraged me to check it out (I don’t think Mom was real keen on it, but it worked). My teacher, my Dad, was an accomplished drummer, having auditioned and played for the Redskins band right after they moved from Boston to DC in the late ‘30’s. He played with the band every Sunday. The attack on Pearl Harbor was December 7th, 1941 which began at 7:48 AM Hawaiian time, 12:48 PM Eastern. He played in the band during the Sunday, December 7th 1941 game, when, in the middle of the first quarter, the public address announcer started to call admirals, generals, military and civilian officials, et.al. to report to their offices immediately. Dad told me that those names were announced individually, and that the list continued to be announced until the end of the game and beyond. The game began at 2:00 PM, which was 9:00 AM Hawaii time, about an hour after the Japanese attack. That game was historically tagged as “The Most Forgotten Game Ever Played. (Washington beat the Eagles 20-14). Dad joined the Navy. When Dad was accepted into the Naval School of Music, where he was mentored by Charles Bessette, a master, and who also mentored the famous and popular drummer at that time, Gene Krupa. After Dad’s graduation, he took on a number of assignments during WWII in the Russell Islands, New Caledonia, and other positions in the south Pacific. Each ship had a band, but that was a ceremonial function. He never told me about his primary duties. I’m piecing this together from the papers I have and my recollections. Dad passed away at a youngish age, 66, in 1988. Like many veterans of our “Greatest Generation”, he didn’t speak of his experience and service. The papers show that he was wounded when an ammunition dump exploded when he was within less than 50 feet of it. Whenever I asked him about his service, he politely shrugged off my questions. He and I, however, when I was young, would sit up late at night and watch WWII movies together, but without a comment from him. If you have had time to read this, I apologize for this long post. It’s therapeutically soothing for me, and I thank you for indulging me. Dad and Mom are at peace together in Arlington. I wish to salute and express my appreciation to all of our beloved Veterans today in advance of Veteran’s Day (Tuesday November 11th). I wont be able to post on Veteran’s Day, because of circumstances.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 09:34:34 +0000
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