The sounding of Taps for funeral services is a hallowed tradition of the U.S. military. The somber yet peaceful melody reflects the sorrow of loss, while paying tribute to the memory of an honorable life.

Here, Taps is sounded at West Point, the U.S. Military Academy, in front of the most ornate monument in its cemetery – the grave of the man who wrote the call, Brig. Gen. Daniel Butterfield. Despite never attending West Point, Butterfield had a close relationship with the Academy. He earned a Medal of Honor for his nine years of Army service and spent his final years just across the Hudson River from West Point. From his home, he could hear the post buglers performing his composition.

Army Bandsmen faithfully attend to this sacred duty every day across our nation, shining a light on the memories of our brothers and sisters in arms.

As Oliver Willcox Norton, the first bugler to ever sound Taps so eloquently said, “Its echoes linger in the heart long after its tones have ceased to vibrate in the air.”

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U.S. Army video by the West Point Band
Master Sgt. Jeff Prosperie, drum
Staff Sgt. Katherine Stephen, bugle

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