For the past two years, Honor Guard Commander Matthew Brenner has been performing Taps at 6 p.m. each evening at VFW Post 696 on the downtown Riverfront.
Brenner brought up the idea of playing Taps, the bugle call typically played at dusk during flag ceremonies and military funerals, at a Post meeting two years ago.
“Everybody was elated that he made the suggestion to do this for our fallen veterans,” said Honor Guard member, Mike Swift.
Brenner, a U.S. Army veteran, has become relatively aware that there are some individuals that do not recognize the significance of Taps and are not familiar with the protocol to stand quietly when it is played. For this reason, in anticipation of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum opening this past weekend, Brenner sent a kind, yet informative email to those in charge at the Bluegrass Museum.
“I told them we play taps at 6 p.m. and asked them out of respect to pause their concert for about 2 minutes,” Brenner said. He also said he felt that it was important to try to establish a positive relationship with the new venue and prevent any future problems that might occur due to the number of expected performances.
On Saturday evening, at 6 p.m., Brenner began to play, and those who were engaged in the bluegrass festivities stopped to listen, according to a Facebook post made by Bill Stewart, who was working security for the Bluegrass Museum Saturday.
“Just experienced an awesome moment,” Stewart said. “I’m working security for the big concert at the new Bluegrass Museum directly across the street from the VFW. When the VFW began their nightly 6 p.m. live rendition of Taps, the performing act stopped mid-song and 1,500 people stood and faced the VFW. Proud to be an American.”
While that is just the reaction Brenner was hoping for when he first emailed the museum, he wasn’t expecting to receive so many compliments about his bugle playing.
“I cannot take credit,” Brenner said, “That is a recording device. My father-in-law actually bought me a bugle that I’m trying to learn on.”
The device Brenner is referring to has been approved for military funerals and services for the last 15 years, including Arlington National Ceremony.
According to a 2003 New York Times article, “It is a bugle discreetly fitted with a battery-operated conical insert that plays the 24 notes of taps at the flick of a switch.”
With the number of trained buglers growing smaller and smaller each year, this device allows military members or veterans to hold the instrument and still achieve the desired effect without having to use a radio or CD player. It also eliminates the instances of human error in what are quite often very sensitive and somber moments.
Although Brenner is not the only bugler at VFW Post 696, he does take great pride and respect in performing Taps each night. But there is one audience that seems to impact him more than the others.
“When adults walk by it doesn’t bother me as much,” Brenner said. “But, when I see little kids stop and salute, it brings a tear to my eye and shows me this country has a future.”
