Army Bugler Does His Best to Play On Amid Restrictions

Army Bugler Does His Best to Play On During Pandemic

Military' s Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps is idled on the Fourth

Courtesy Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps When Fourth of July arrives in Washington, fireworks bursting in the air aren't the only sounds that traditionally enliven the capital. The U.S. Army's Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps normally sounds out tunes such as “Yankee Doodle” at a National Archives ceremony, then steps off into the National Independence Day Parade. The buglers, fifers and drummers are crowd-pleasers, not least for their splashy uniforms. Their red wool jackets, beige waistcoats and trousers, black tri-corner hats and gray wigs hark back to the Revolutionary War. But America's 244th birthday isn't occurring during a normal time. Fireworks will still explode over D.C., but the 70 soldier-musicians will be idle. This year the Archives will host a from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. E.T. And the parade? Like many spectacles from sea to shining sea, it's been canceled. Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Lynch/Courtesy Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps Sgt. 1st Class John Parks, head drum major, leads the corps during a training session.

Camaraderie strikes the right key

"The best part of the job is the camaraderie and just the experience of working together as a team,” says Master Sgt. Patrick Richard, a 51-year-old bugler who has been in the band for 17 years. While members work mostly from home, rehearsing music and marches, he misses his colleagues. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Richard finished a master's degree in trumpet performance at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. At age 31, he joined the Army. Richard underwent basic training at Fort Sill, in Oklahoma, where he was so much older than the teenage enlistees that a drill sergeant nicknamed him Grandpa. Not a grandfather yet, he is married to a French horn player in the U.S. Marine Band known as The President's Own. He and Master Sgt. Greta Richard, 46, have two children, 15 and 13. They live in suburban Virginia, in a home they share with her parents, who are in their mid-70s. Staff Sgt. Jessie DeJesus/Courtesy Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps Master Sgt. Patrick Richard, on the left, holds his bugle at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on June 25, 2020

Pandemic disrupts performance schedule

Summertime is usually a busy season for the band, whose headquarters are in Virginia, at Fort Myer, adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery. Its repertoire includes music from the early baroque period and the Revolutionary and Civil War eras. The players would march in many parades and also participate in Fort Myer's weekly Twilight Tattoo performances. But in light of the pandemic, the band has no large-scale events on tap. Lately, Richard has played his Kanstul B-flat bugle at military retirement and change-of-command ceremonies. “We can't wear masks when we play our instruments, but we space ourselves apart,” he says. In June he played taps at the cemetery's . It was the third time he played taps at the tomb during a career that has seen him perform at the White House for the arrivals of Queen Elizabeth II in 2007 and Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 and at presidential inaugurations and Christmas parties.

Join today and save 25% off the standard annual rate. Get instant access to discounts, programs, services, and the information you need to benefit every area of your life. Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Lynch/Courtesy Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps soldiers drill in training

Doing double duty

These Old Guard soldiers, technically part of the 3rd U.S. Army Infantry Regiment, all have separate support duties within the corps. Richard is its supply supervisor, so he buys the band's uniforms, wigs and instruments. During emergencies, such as the September 11 attack at the Pentagon, corps members put down their instruments and assist military police, he says. Although the military is famous for moving soldiers around every few years, the troops in the Fife and Drum Corps tend to stay put, making it, according to Richard, more like a family. “I love ‘em like brothers and sisters,” he says of his colleagues. Want to learn more? Visit the corps’ , its or its Or watch the video below.

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