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Re: Military music cutbacks--and $11,000 flutes?

Author: sfalexi
Date: 2016-08-05 04:29

Quote:

Maybe I'm an outlier, but I never really cared or gave a damn about a military band playing when I came back to port. I was a whole heck of a lot more interested in getting off my boat and going to have a good time in the city.

For diplomatic events a military quartet or quintet makes some sense, but I'm sorry, I really don't think the military should be the largest employer of musicians in the US.

You may or may not be an outlier. It depends on the situation. I know in Iraq, there were definitely a whole heap of troops that were THRILLED when the Rock Band was passing through their little FOBs. It was an event to look forward to and they got to hear and sing along with live versions of some awesome songs.

I know I played a Dixieland gig as a young specialist to a reserve unit from where the Commander was from New Orleans in a deployed environment. She literally cried out of joy from hearing music similar to back home. As it was told to me by my supervisor (who she talked to), she was scared. She was a reservist, it was her first deployment, and rockets were coming in nightly. And when the band arrived and gave her a taste of home style music, it soothed her and gave her relief. Reminded her of back home, helped her feel she was going to make it, and she invited us to play monthly and she survived and her unit did well on that deployment.

I have also seen some great community relations with the band. One I loved was playing for a local elementary school's assembly on (Flag day? A Memorial Day ceremony? I forget which holiday) and finding out that my next door neighbor's son was in the audience. She saw me get off my motorcycle at home and said, "Did you play music at a school last week?" "Yup! Sure did!" "My son is driving me crazy! Your band is all he's talked about for the past week and he just keeps telling me how great you guys were and how cool it was that our neighbor plays in the Army band!"

Mark, I have no doubt that when you were a young sailor, you walked right past that band. But I'm willing to bet a bunch of folks appreciated that there was a band as part of a celebration to welcome them home. Just like I did out on the Tarmac for 3 months, 6 times a day, welcoming troops back from Iraq as they got off that plane literally days after getting off that plane myself (and having a backfill band play for OUR band's return was awesome!)

Retired, playing more sax than clarinet, but still playing clarinet and still loving it!

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