The FReeper Foxhole Studies Military Bands in America

I served in army bands during the Viet Nam war. After graduating from high school, I auditioned for the Fifth Army Band at Ft. Sheridan Il and was accepted.

Upon completion of basic training, I was sent to the U.S.Navy school of Music at Little Creek Va. I was told at the school that my incoming audition with a score of 3.29 out of a possible 4, was the highest that they had ever recorded for a tuuba player.

Upon completion of 6 months training at the music school, I was sent to Ft. Sheridan to join the Fifth Army Band. At the Fifth, the band was great and had a weekly radio program on WGN radioin Chicago. That is how I learned about the band.

We wore dress blues for all our public appearances and we wern't allowed to wear the uniforms until we arrived where we were going to play. That was to keep the uniforms clean and neat.

I have not so fond memories of riding in a bus down State Street in Chicago wearing our underwear before putting our uniforms on when we arrived at the parade staging area.

We often played at parades throught Illinois, and Wisconsin. One Fourth of July in 104 degree temperatures, we had to march in three parades the same day. After the second parade, several of the guys decided to stay in our blues since they were drenched in sweat anyway.

Right before the third parade, the director CWO Billie G Cook inspected us and everyone who had a wrinkled trousers from wearing them on the bus got yard duty for punishment.

After serving with the Fifth for about 9 months, I was reassigned to the &4th Armt at Ft. Benjamin Harrison Indiana (Uncle Bennies Rest Home as we called it) and finished my term of service there. When I first arrived, the band had about 13 musicians and 7 of them were tuba players. I wound up playing trumpet and french horn as well as tuba. By the time I left, the membership rose to about 100.

During the early days at Uncle Bennies, my schedule went something like this for a typical day:

Get up at about 8:30 to 9:00 and fall out for roll call (weather permitting).
Return to room and make bed and clean up.
Hold morning warmups (about an hour).
Take morning coffee break 1/2 to a full hour.
Have morning rehearsal 1 to 2 hours).
Break for lunch at about 1:30.
Afternoon was spent in PT (personal time) which ment practicing our individual instruments. Some guys went swimming or visited other post recreation areas, or took naps to prepare for evening partying. Some simply left for the day.

At the beginning, the band was to small to do much.

Ft.Harrison was the home of the Army Finance center, the Defense information school, The Finance school, and a couple other schools. About four times each month, we played at welcoming and graduation ceremonies at the various schools, and during warm weather, the monthly 'retreat' ceremony. We also participated in the Indy 500 parade as well as a few local concerts.

Good morning and thank you dglang for sharing your story with the Foxhole.

It's interesting to me to read that the Army would send people to the Navy school of music. I love the story about riding on the bus in your underwear. LOL.

Looking at your schedule at Ft. Benjamin Harrison I can see why you may have called it Uncle Bennies rest home. I didn't know anyone got to sleep that late in the military!

How hard is it to go from playing tuba to playing a trumpet and french horn? I have a nephew who plays trombone and never thought of asking him about how easy or difficult it would be to switch instruments.

We have folks from all over the military join us at the FReeper Foxhole but I believe you are our first musician to "fall in".

Don't be shy and stop in again sometime.

Thank you for your service to our country.

From 1984 to mid 1993, I was a member of the Joliet American Legion Band from Joliet Illinois. This band was formed in 1946 at the end of world war II and was comprised of service personnel who grew up in Joliet Illinois and were members of the great high school band at Joliet Central high school.

During the 1930's and 1940's, that high school band and my own high school band at Harrison High school in Chicago Illinois were regular contestants for and winners of the U.S. National High School Band Contests.

The first year of it's existance, the Joliet Legion band competeted in the American Legion national band contest and won first place. In 33 trips to the Nationals, the band finished in first place 32 times and in second place the only time they didn't finish in first.

Our solo cornetist in the Joliet Legion band, Chuck Peters once served as the solo cornetist in the Sousa band.

During an international music festival in Toronto Canada in 1986, the Joliet Legion band became the only adult band from North America to ever win a gold medal in international competition.

Usually in a band contest, each band plays three numbers, the first of which is a warmup and is not judged. The second and third numbers are judged to determine each bands ranking in the contest.

For our first number, the warmup, we opened with March op 99 from Prokopioff's Love of Three Oranges. I remember looking at the audience upon completion of that number and seeing jaws dropped wide open at the complexity of our warmup number which was harder than most bands main numbers.

During the judging numbers, the judges sit in the back of the room and softly speak their comments into a tape recorder which is simultaniously recording each bands performance.

For our second number, we played American Overture for Band which featured out french horn section. After listening for a minute, one of the judges said that he couldn't teach us anything and he was just going to shut up and enjoy the performance.

For our third number, we played Romanian Rhapsody by Georges Enesco. Another judge questioned why he never heard anyone else play this number because it was so beautiful. A short time later, he said he knew why no one else ever played it, it was too hard.

I was playing tuba in this band and one of the judges said that our bass section was the most awesome he has ever heard. When I was in the army bands, I could support a 100 piece band all by myself and our legion band had 8 tuba players, all of which were experts.

At the end of the third number, all three judges were up on their feet yelling BRAVO BRAVO, and we knew that we made history before we even heard our scores.

I remember one parade in Chicago when I laid my light weight Sousaphone on the street rather than hold it. A big wind came up and I had to chase after the horn as it was literally blowing away down the street.

The big Conn Artist brass Sousaphones with short action valves weighed about 55 pounds each and even they weren't immune to the effects of a heavy wind.

At an outdoor ceremony at Ft Harrison on a very windy day, the Sousaphone players had to lean into a very heavy wind that was blowing just to keep our spot in formation. From time to time, the wind would suddenly stop and the entire line of tuba players would suddenly jump out of line about two places to the left of where we were standing. If the wind would suddenly stop after a particularly hard burst, we would almost fall down from leaning so much to the left.

When I was a tuba player in the 74th army band, I went on a few bugle jobs playing a trumpet for soldiers who were killed in Viet Nam. I went on a couple of jobs accompanying a Marine Corps Honor Guard.

Most of our regular trumpet players didn't want to go on the bugle jobs, but I gladly volunteered. I figured that it was the least that I could do for someone who lost his life.

At one funeral, the family wanted to give me $25.00 for playing taps and I refused it. I told them that I wanted to be there, that I volunteered for that job and I did it to honor their son, and I was proud to do it for him.

What an outstanding accomplishment.

You mention Ft. Harrison. Indianapolis is my birthplace and was my home for twenty years.

Your pursuit of excellence with the Joliet American Legion Band is laser-bright in the currently dulled culture.

Viewing the success of the group Chicago, it would seem the time is right for another assemblage of instrumental virtuosos.

It would be applauded along with the development of the Rap Music-Homing/BoomBox-Busting PGM.

I'm sure those treated to your performances felt as we did watching the Blue Angels perform over the USNA in 1994.

The truly accomplished have the power to awe.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.