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Taps played with digital bugles at funerals

The image of a bugler playing the mournful tune of taps is a core element of the required military honors offered to veterans at their funerals.

But the military has only about 500 buglers, and more than 1,800 veterans are dying every day.

Volunteer buglers from veterans’ organizations and other groups, including Bugles Across America, also help out, but still can’t cover every funeral where honors are being presented.

Until 2002, the only alternative available under the 2000 military honors law was a CD recording of taps, usually played on a portable stereo tucked out of sight.

“Nobody likes that,” said Mark Ward, senior program manager for military funeral honors at the Pentagon. “The Defense Department doesn’t like it. Families don’t like it. Veterans don’t like it.”

The answer was a “ceremonial bugle” developed by S&D Consulting in New York that is a real bugle with a cone-shaped insert that fits into the bell and plays a digital recording of taps.

No special training is needed to use the $525, battery-powered instrument, which has an on-off switch and volume settings to cover everything from playing indoors to playing over traffic noise.

But the dignified image of a bugler playing the call is maintained during the funeral.

The ceremonial bugle was a major step forward to get away from boom boxes playing the CD, said Beryl Love, national programs director for AMVETS.

“With the emotions flowing at a funeral outdoors, and somebody has one of those digital deals in a bugle, not too many people are going to know the difference,” Love said. “They are very, very good.”

Ward said that in 2000, about 80 percent of the military honors funerals were hearing taps played from boom boxes, and about 20 percent had live buglers.

Now, live buglers still play at about 20 percent of the funerals, the ceremonial bugle is used at about 60 percent and 20 percent still have the boom boxes, Ward said.

“The ultimate goal is to make the boom box a thing of the past,” he said. “If we can’t have a live bugler, let’s have the next-best, closest thing.”