The bugler raises his horn, purses his lips, and those familiar notes sound in our ears and touch our hearts.  The twenty-four notes of “Taps” will be heard this Memorial Day, our day for remembering those who made the greatest sacrifice, for you and for me. 

 

It was July 1862, after the Seven Days battles at Harrison's Landing in Virginia and General Daniel Butterfield, the Commander of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, V Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, met with Oliver Norton, his bugler. General Butterfield didn’t like the bugle call for lights out as he thought it too formal. Basing the new bugle call on the "Scott Tattoo" the general and Norton created “Taps.”

 

The Army of the Potomac quickly adopted “Taps” and soon other Union forces were ending the day to those haunting twenty-four notes. Even a few Confederate troops began playing “Taps.”  After the Civil War ended, it became an official bugle call.

 

Today funeral services for those who served in our country’s military often conclude with this plaintive bugle call.  According to Colonel James A. Moss, in his Officer's Manual published in 1911, the first use of Taps at a military funeral was during the Civil War.  An artillery soldier was being buried at a time when the battery occupied an advanced position concealed deep in the woods. Thinking it unsafe to fire the traditional three volleys over the grave and over the troops, Colonel Tidwell decided to substitute the playing of “Taps.”  Thus, a soldier was laid to rest in the earth as twenty-four notes from an Army bugler resounded through the forest, echoing in the hills.

 

There are no official lyrics, yet most of us easily recall the words of this song.  As the sun sets over the hills and the rosy glow warms the Ohio River waters, listen and hear a lonesome bugle sound in the soft murmur on the wind. Whisper the words and say farewell to the day.   

 

Day is done,

gone the sun,

>From the hills,

from the lake,

>From the skies.

All is well,

safely rest,

God is nigh.

 

This Memorial Day is a day of remembrance, a day of thanksgiving. It is time to gather your family and pause for a moment. Think about the reason for this holiday and remember those men and women who died in the service of our country. It is their sacrifice that has made it possible for you to enjoy this day with your family and friends.  Take a moment to give thanks to those who died so that the American dream of freedom of our Revolutionary War forefathers continues still.  It is the blood of these fallen men and women that allow us to be free to pursue a life unhampered and unconstrained by race, religion, gender, heritage and social status. And now as the lyrics continue, remember those who sleep and never shall wake, never have the chance to realize their dreams.  Let them not be forgotten. 

Go to sleep,

peaceful sleep,

May the soldier

or sailor,

God keep.

On the land

or the deep,

Safe in sleep.