Memorial Day 2009: 'Taps' is a bugle call for the ages

Opinion by Gabriel E. Galindo Mendez

Of all the military bugle calls, none is so easily recognized or quicker to render emotion than “Taps.” It is a great honor and demonstrates a great deal of respect to have the echoes of “Taps” performed at a military funeral.

How did these 24 notes we know as "Taps" come into being? Who wrote the melody? When was it composed? Where was it first performed? What was the original use of the call and how is it used today?

Up to the Civil War, the traditional call at day's end was a song borrowed from the French called "Luminaire Dehors," directly translated, it means "lights out."

In the aftermath of the ghastly Seven Days Battles in the summer of 1862, extremely dismayed by the loss of several hundred men and numerous more wounded, including himself, Union Gen. Daniel Adams Butterfield called the brigade bugler to his tent. He thought "Lights Out" was too formal and "old-fashioned," so he wished to honor his men in a different way. The brigade bugler’s name was Oliver Wilcox Norton.

Norton would tell the following anecdote ...

"Showing me some notes on a staff written in pencil on the back of an envelope, Gen. Adams asked me to sound them on my bugle. I did this several times, playing the music as written. He changed it somewhat, lengthening some notes and shortening others, but retaining the melody as he first gave it to me. After getting it to his satisfaction, he directed me to sound that call for "Taps" thereafter in place of the regulation call. The music was beautiful on that still summer night and was heard far beyond the limits of our brigade. The next day I was visited by several buglers from neighboring brigades, asking for copies of the music, which I gladly furnished. The call was gradually taken up through the Army of the Potomac."

Soon after that encounter, "Taps," as the tune was now known, was adopted throughout the military. In 1874, the United States Army officially recognized "Taps" and this melody became the standard at military funeral ceremonies in 1891.

There is something unusually pleasing and appropriate in the music of this breathtaking call. The melody is full of melancholy, yet full of rest and peace. The echoes of "Taps" linger in the heart long after its tones have come to an end, long after the wind has taken the song's vibrations.

It has been said that the origin of the word "Taps" is thought to have come from the Dutch word for "tattoo" (taptoe). More than likely, "Taps" comes from the three drum "Taps" that were played as a signal for "Extinguish Lights," or lights out, when a bugle was not used. As with many other customs, the 24 notes that comprise this sincere tradition began long ago and continue to this day.

While there are no official lyrics for "Taps," the following unofficial verse (author unknown) is often used:

Fading light dims the sight,

And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright.

From afar drawing nigh-falls the night.

Day is done, gone the sun,

From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;

All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Then good night, peaceful night,

Till the light of the dawn shineth bright;

God is near, do not fear-Friend, good night.

As with many traditions, the custom of performing "Taps" during military funerals has died down. According to various studies, I am one of only 500 in the United States that still performs "Taps" live with my trumpet in hand. Many funerals have recordings or even fake bugles in which the bugler presses a button and a synthetic version of "Taps" is heard.

Saturday, May 25, 1991, was a day that will live in my heart forever. My late grandfather, Robert G. Mendez, a veteran or World War II and former commander of the local VFW, called me over to his house. He gave me a cassette tape and said, "Here, learn this, you are going to play this on Monday Memorial Day and at my funeral as well."

When I heard it, I said "Ah no Tata, no quiero," but I really couldn't say no to him. My father's premature death had just occurred two months previously, and I knew that my father would want me to obey my grandfather.

I learned the melody, perfected it to the best of my ability, and have been participating in military funerals for the past 16 years, including on July 9, 2001, at my grandfather’s military funeral.

As I played my heart out, standing next to his grave, I swear I could feel my father and grandfather smile down upon me from the heavens. For the first time during the entire funeral service, I saw that my grandmother stopped crying as she was saying, "Gabriel, eres tu mijito?" That moment is something that I will never forget.

As I stated in the beginning of my story, of all the military bugle calls, none is so easily recognized or quicker to render emotion than "Taps." I thank the Nogales VFW and American Legion for allowing me to be a part of their team for the past 18 years. I thank the men and women that have fought and are fighting for this great country of ours. God bless America, God bless everyone.

(Editor’s Note: Gabriel is a resident of Nogales. This opinion was first published on June 1, 2007.)