Former Marine Honors Every Fallen American Veteran with 24 Final Notes
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: As the nation returns from the Memorial Day holiday, our Beth Nissen introduces us to another American hero. He's a former Marine with a somber mission: to honor every fallen American veteran with 24 final notes.</s>BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tom Day, a Chicago sales rep, is using another of his few remaining vacation days to drive 60 miles to a funeral of an American veteran he's never met. Day, a former Marine Corps gunnery sergeant, is the founder of Bugles Across America, a national volunteer organization.</s>TOM DAY, BUGLES ACROSS AMERICA: The mission of Bugles Across America is to have a live bugle player at every veteran's funeral. It's something that veterans who have given a great portion of their life deserve.</s>NISSEN: Yet something relatively few veterans get. A downsized U.S. military has only 500 buglers nationwide; far too few to meet demand. Veterans, most of them aging World War II soldiers, are dying at the rate of 1,600 a day. More than half a million veterans are expected to die this year. By law, an honors team of active duty military personnel must be sent to every veteran's funeral when requested. But the military does not, cannot, send a bugler to play "Taps" at every funeral.</s>SANDRA JONE, LINCOLN NATIONAL CEMETERY: When we don't have a live bugler, we play a recording of "Taps" at the service for the veteran.</s>NISSEN: The CD distributed by the military is a practical necessity, but Tom Day says it isn't a guarantee that funeral directors will play it.</s>DAY: They have to bring the batteries. They have to set the CD so it's at the right tune of "Taps," not "Revilee" (ph) or something else.</s>NISSEN: After hearing about several CD mishaps at veterans' funerals, Dave founded Bugles Across America. He sent out press releases, set up a Web site, started recruiting horn players from high school marching bands, Boy Scout troops and VFW posts across the country.</s>DAY: Since we started in May of 2001, we have rounded up 587 players in all 50 states.</s>NISSEN: Many, such as Ed Crobie, are retirees. Crobie, a former Marine Corps bugler, showed up at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery one day in February and told the honors corps leader he was willing to play.</s>ED CROBIE, BUGLE VOLUNTEER: He said, "Well there's a funeral coming here in a couple of minutes. You can play that." And I played three in a row that day.</s>NISSEN: He has played 168 services at the cemetery in the three months since.</s>CROBIE: And I feel that in a way I'm still serving my country by doing this.</s>NISSEN: Serving with no pay. Bugles Across America welcomes donations, but most volunteers don't even get gas money. Dave says his payment is knowing how much it means to veterans' families to have him part of the funeral honors team.</s>DAY: Those 24 notes of "Taps" is closure for them at the funeral.</s>NISSEN: Day's playing gave closure and comfort to the family of Vietnam veteran Robert Baskin.</s>LINDA BASKIN, VETERAN'S WIDOW: I thought it was beautiful to honor Bobby in such a way that we didn't expect. God it was beautiful.</s>NISSEN: Bugles Across America volunteers have played for 4,000 funerals in the organization's first year. But Day wants to do ten times that number.</s>DAY: Presently, there's a shortage of people that can travel and do daytime funerals. So what we're looking for is a multitude of horn players...</s>NISSEN: Bugle, trumpet, coronet, even flugle horn players, players of any age.</s>DAY: Our oldest player is 89 years old, and our youngest is 10 years old, right here in my hometown of Berwyn, Illinois.</s>NISSEN: He is Greg Ruesch, a fifth grader, whose mom showed him a recent newspaper article about the playing of recorded "Taps" at so many veterans' funerals.</s>GREG RUESCH, BUGLE VOLUNTEER: Well I thought that was kind of sad, so I -- since I joined trumpet and I was a pretty good trumpeter, I wanted to help. So I joined.</s>NISSEN: Greg hasn't played a funeral yet, but hopes to soon. Very much hopes to play for a World War II veteran.</s>RUESCH: They sort of saved us. I think I owe them to do something. So this is what I want to do for them.</s>NISSEN: Lifting horns, lifting spirits in resounding tribute to those who served a nation. Beth Nissen, CNN, Chicago.