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Taps
Do you know the story of “Taps? ”The history of “Taps” goes back to the American Civil War. Union Gen. Daniel Butterfield oversaw a brigade camped at Harrison Landing,Virginia. At the time, the U.S. Army Infantry’s signal for troops to end the day was the French final call “L’Extinction des Feux,” which means “lights out.”
However, Butterfield decided the French “lights out” music was too formal. After I listened to the French version, I agree with Butterfield — just not the same feeling. One day in July1862, he hummed his version of a bugle call to an aide, who wrote down the music.
For those of you who think the music class you took in school was not important, you never know when you may be called to jot down some notes. Butterfield then asked the brigade bugler, Oliver Norton, to play the notes. After hearing his rendition, he ordered Norton to play this new call at the end of each day. The music was heard and adopted by other brigades. The piece became the officialArmy bugle call after the Civil War ended and was given the name “Taps” in 1874.
“Taps” was first played at a military funeral soon after Butterfield composed it when UnionCapt. John Tidball ordered it played for the burial of a cannoneer killed in action. By 1891, Army Infantry regulations required “Taps” to be played at military funeral ceremonies. Today it is played by the military at burials, at memorial services to company the lowering of the flag and to signal the “lights out” command at day’s end.
In 1976 my dad, Lt. Col. Joseph W. Bailey, was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas. We lived in military housing on Biggs Army Airfield. There was no air conditioning in the military housing there, but we had this cooling device called a swamp cooler. The climate in West Texas is very dry, so the swamp cooler required windows to be cracked open slightly so moisture could be added into the dry air. By morning, you would be under blankets in the West Texas summer heat.
Every evening “Taps” would be played, andI could hear it through the cracked windows.
I remember lying in bed, my heart filled with pride in our country and my eyes swelling with tears, proud of my dad and his service. You see,I’ve always heard that my dad entered the Army at 16, but he never told me when he entered theArmy. A few months ago, I saw a picture of theArmy National Guard unit in New Brockton,Alabama. The year was 1956 and there was my dad, who was born in January 1940. That puts him at 16. Also in the National Guard unit photo was his dad, Leon Bailey.
With my dad’s service and the sorrow for the lives cut short serving our great country, I still have the same reaction every time I hear “Taps”whether it’s played at Arlington National Cemetery, Normandy American Cemetery in France or on TV.
I pray we never forget the sacrifice of those lost while serving in the military.
When I write about “Taps” signaling the end of day, you may think “lights out” sends shockwaves within an electric utility, but I look at this action as energy conservation and not a power outage. We are entering the summertime season, which means summertime afternoon storms. My prayer is for your cooperative to catch a break from storms this year, but outages are going to occur. You can track outages by downloading theSAEC app from your smartphone’s app store orby visiting our website.
May is a good month to make sure yourHVAC units are functioning properly. You will have better luck getting someone to check your unit in May before HVAC companies hit their busy season.
As you spend Memorial Day with family and friends, take a moment to reflect on the number of white crosses at the various national memorial cemeteries. There are 45 sets of brothers buried at the Normandy AmericanCemetery, killed during the D-Day landings and subsequent battles.
These families made a huge sacrifice. Each cross is a life cut short. Thank them all in your heart for your freedom. God bless them all.