Chronically short of musicians for military funerals, the Pentagon has approved the use of a push-button bugle that plays taps by itself as the operator holds it to his lips.
Only some 500 buglers are on active duty on any one day, but about 1,800 people with military service die across the country each day and are eligible for honors ceremonies [...]
A member of the honor guard at the funeral simply presses a button on the device. A five-second delay gives the guards time to raise the instrument to their lips as if they are going to play it. [...]
A real bugler still will be used when available. Otherwise, the family of the deceased service member will be offered the ceremonial bugle as an alternative to prerecorded taps, often played on a boom box. [...] Use of the $500 instrument "is intended to enhance the dignity of military funeral honors," the Pentagon said. Also, it plays "an exceptionally high-quality rendition of taps that is virtually indistinguishable from a live bugler," the Pentagon said.
Take back the Grammy!
Lip syncing at the funeral:
Tags: big brother, parts
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9 Responses:
Simply hiring a professional musician, chronically out of work, is apparently unacceptable?
At a military funeral, the military performs the services. So, yeah, hiring a civilian professional musician is unacceptable.
If that's the case, if someone breaks one of these boomboxes, do they get a military funeral as well?
So Private Boombox plays taps instead?
You can't court-martial and execute a professional musician for playing 'The Stripper' at a funeral.
i think a boom box that looks like a bugle would probably be a little better than just a boom box.. you'd think they'd just get some kid from the highschool to play it for them.
WTF?!? Here I am, a classically-trained lead-trumpeter since grammarschool, on the dole and forced into measly webcontracting to pay the rent during these fragile economic times??
Hey, GOVERNMENT!!! Gimmie a call asap at 555-BLOW
(mykwud available for funerals AND military-themed barmitzvahs)
You could join the Army. They are always hiring.
Seriously, they're always willing to place people into specific fields. And, unlike the Marines, there isn't a whole ton of required training before you can start doing what you want to be doing.