THE SIXTH NOTE IN TAPS

 

Monday, May 27, 2024

Memorial Day

 

THE SIXTH NOTE IN TAPS

 

John 15:12-14

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

 

During John F. Kennedy’s funeral, a U.S. Army bugler from East Grand Rapids flubbed a note during a solo rendition of taps at a funeral.

 

Had the mistake happened during anyone other than John F. Kennedy’s funeral, it might have gone unnoticed and bugler Keith Clark would have lived out his days with little notoriety.

 

Instead, the broken note — described as sounding like a 'sob,' — struck a chord with a grieving nation and assured Clark and his bugle a place in history.

 

"The sixth note is a flat note, " said Clark. "I was wrestling with it, and it got away from me,” he recalled in 1988 on the anniversary of Kennedy’s Nov. 25, 1963, funeral. “I missed a note under pressure. It's something you don't like, but it's something that can happen to a trumpet player."

 

According to the Washington Post, Clark always regretted the mistake, although later he saw the cracked note as especially symbolic.

 

          Daniel Butterfield is credited with what we now call “taps.” It was originally called “The Scot Tattoo” and it has been played on American battlefields since the civil war.

 

Day is done, gone the sun

From the lakes, from the hills, from the sky

All is well, safely rest

God is nigh

 

Fading light dims the sight

And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright

From afar, drawing near

Falls the night

 

Thanks and praise for our days

Neath the sun, neath the stars, neath the sky

As we go, this we know

God is nigh

 

Dear Lord, on this special day of remembrance, let us recall the sacrifice of our soldiers and Thy Son. AMEN