AHS graduate to take part in ‘Taps’ event

ARLINGTON, Va. — Jim Little, a 1962 graduate of Artesia High School, will join buglers from across the United States Saturday, May 19, as they gather in Arlington, Va., to begin the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the composition and first sounding of “Taps,” the bugle call that is known as the final honor for fallen warriors of the United States military forces and first responders.
The commemoration of “Taps,” the National Song of Remembrance, is sponsored by TAPS 150, Bugles Across America and Arlington National Cemetery and will begin on the morning of May 19 in the Old Amphitheater (near the Lee Mansion) at Arlington National Cemetery with a mass sounding of “Taps” in four-part harmony by all the assembled buglers. Following the mass sounding, buglers will report to stations throughout the cemetery and, after Noon Chimes, will individually sound “Taps.” … For the rest of the story, subscribe in print and on the web.
“We were given a list of designated memorials and monuments from which to choose for our individual sounding of Taps,” said Little. “My dad, Joe Little, was assigned to a unit of the Third Air Force at Hunter Field, Savannah, Ga., toward the end of World War II. There is no specific memorial to the Third Air Force, so I requested to sound ‘Taps’ at the Eighth Air Force Memorial, because the Eighth Air Force was originally activated at Savannah Air Base on Jan. 2, 1942.
“The Eighth Air Force Memorial was the closest memorial tie I could find to my father’s service in the Army Air Force, and I wanted to be able to honor him on this special occasion.”