There are two stories about the origins of Taps. The following is one that is widely accepted as true by many, but only one of the following is the truth.

Captain Ellicombe had asked if he could have a group of Army Band members play a funeral dirge for his son at the funeral. The request was denied because his son was a Confederate soldier. Out of respect for the father however they did say he could have one musician. Captain Ellicombe chose a bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found in the pocket of his dead sons uniform.

This wish was granted. That music was the haunting bugle melody we know today as “TAPS” used today on all military funerals.

This next story is a beautiful one once read by John Wayne.

It was July in Virginia. The scent of dogwood and laurel lay heavy on the land, while the burgeoning fruit of the peach and the apple marked the full sway of summer.

For seven fateful days the trees, the flowers, yes, the very ground itself had shuddered under the roar of cannon. The bark of howitzers…and the crackling of a legion of rifles.

Now all was silent. The sledgehammer blows of Robert E. Lee and “Stonewall” Jackson had mauled the Army of the Potomac, and yet that army was not destroyed. Seven thousand men had fallen in that dreadful week…and the savagery of the conflict was grimly evident in the river of wounded…that wound through the green hills.

Now, a new sound drifted in the soft evening sky. For Colonel Dan Butterfield, a courageous and able soldier, was also a man of music. On July second, in the year 1862, its stains floated over the graves that scarred the dark Virginia earth.

It has been more than a hundred years since that sound was born, but those notes have never died away. Every night of the year, throughout the world, fighting men of America, from the North and South, the East and West, close their eyes in sleep to its call. And in each of their hearts…there glows a fierce surge of pride.

The later story is most accurate according to one of the finest buglers in the country Jari Villinueva, and he would know. Jari has been the Master Bugler with the Air Force Band as far back as anyone can remember. This is what he had to say about Captain Ellicombe and his son.

“I have spent years on this one tune… The story is a fake, a tall tale, a good story to tell around a campfire, but a story that holds no truth whatsoever. This is one of those stories tha is reprinted and forwarded to others and makes its way around the internet around Memorial day, July 4^th, and Veterans day. The story gets printed in papers, newsletters, and sad to say even on some military websites as the true version of how the bugle call Taps came to light.”

“I Have sounded the call over 1600 times over the past 16 years an Air Force bugler at Arlington National Cemetery. I am the curator of the Taps Exhibit at Arlington, and a Civil War re-enactor and historian. Along with ither history buffs, I have researched the real story tried to squash ths fake story.”

“We know much about the two men involved in the creation of Taps. General Daniel Butterfield and the bugler, Private Oliver Wilcox Norton, who created the new call, survived the Civil War, went on to become prosperous and respected businessmen and citizens. Both wrote about their civil war experiences and the creation of Taps in July of 1862.

“There is no proof that Captain Robert Ellicombe ever existed. The myth gives no indication of which unit or state he served. In order to be believed one needs to produce muster, discharge or pension papers and background history of both father and son, units, etc. Lastly, were is the sons grave? There is no basis at all to the story, except that it occurred near Harrison’s landing in July 1862, were the true origin took place.”

“So where did the myth come from? I have traced the tale to a Ripley’s Believe it or Not story that Robert Ripley created for his short-lived TV program in 1949. This is chronicled in the book Ripley. The Modern Marco Polo–The Life And Times of The Creator Of Believe It Or Not by Bob Considine, published by Doubleday & Co. in 1961.

“The myth took on a life of its own and was even printed as fact in an Ann Landers or Dear Abby Column. A retraction was later printed. It has acquired a new life on the internet and is spread by many unsuspecting but well meaning people who believe it to be true. It is unfortunate to see it on websites, especially military and veteran sited that should know better. It is hoped that those who are interested in history will spread the word to stop the myth.

Many of the stories you will hear in the heroes section have a sad ending, but not all. We all know that one does not have to die to be a hero. A hero is a person distinguished by exceptional courage, honor, and strength.

Thanks to the action of SSgt. Gouak and his team many lives were saved during his tour. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his overall actions in Iraq. He is a living Hero.

Silver Star Approved for Soldier Who Sacrificed Himself for Crew
American Forces Press ServiceFORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq, December 12, 2006 – Army Pfc. Ross A. McGinnis packed only 136 pounds into his 6-foot frame, but few have ever matched his inner strength.

The 19-year-old amateur mechanic from Knox, Pa., who enjoyed poker and loud music, likely saved the lives of four soldiers riding with him on a mission in Baghdad.

McGinnis was manning the gunner’s hatch when an insurgent tossed a grenade from above. It flew past McGinnis and down through the hatch before lodging near the radio. His platoon sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Cedric Thomas of Longview, Texas, recalled what happened next.

“Pfc. McGinnis yelled ‘Grenade! … It’s in the truck,’” Thomas said. “I looked out of the corner of my eye as I was crouching down and I saw him pin it down.” McGinnis did so even though he could have escaped. “He had time to jump out of the truck,” Thomas said. “He chose not to.”

Thomas remembered McGinnis talking about how he would respond in such a situation. McGinnis said then he didn’t know how he would act, but when the time came, he delivered. “He gave his life to save his crew and his platoon sergeant,” Thomas said. “He’s a hero. He’s a professional. He was just an awesome guy.”

Three of the soldiers with McGinnis who were wounded that day have returned to duty, while a fourth is recovering in Germany.

For saving the lives of his friends and giving up his own in the process, McGinnis earned the Silver Star. His unit comrades paid their final respects in a somber ceremony here Dec. 11.

McGinnis was born June 14, 1987, and joined the Army right after graduating from high school in 2005. He had been in the Army 18 months and made his mark even before his heroic deed.

“He was a good kid,” said C Company’s senior enlisted soldier, 1st Sgt. Kenneth J. Hendrix. “He had just gotten approved for a waiver to be promoted to specialist.” He also appeared on the Nov. 30 cover of Stars & Stripes, manning his turret.

Besides his military accomplishments, McGinnis leaves his friends andfamily with memories of a fun-loving, loyal man.

Pfc. Brennan Beck, a 1-26 infantryman from Lodi, Calif., said McGinnis made others feel better. “He would go into a room and when he left, everyone was laughing,” Beck said. “He did impersonations of others in the company. He was quick-witted, just hilarious. He loved making people laugh. He was a comedian through and through.”

While having a witty side, McGinnis took his job seriously.

“He was not a garrison soldier. He hated it back in garrison,” Beck said. “He loved it here in Iraq. He loved being a gunner. It was a thrill; he loved everything about it. He was one our best soldiers. He did a great job.”

Beck has memories of talking all night with McGinnis about where they wanted their lives to go, and said McGinnis always remembered his friends. “When I had my appendix removed, he was the only one who visited me in the hospital,” Beck said. “That meant a lot.”

Another 1-26 infantryman, Pfc. Michael Blair of Klamath Falls, Ore., recalled that McGinnis helped him when he arrived at Ledward Barracks in Schweinfurt, Germany.

“When I first came to the unit, … he was there and took me in and showed me around,” Blair said. “He was real easy to talk to. You could tell him anything. He was a funny guy. He was always making somebody laugh.”

McGinnis’ final heroic act came as no surprise to Blair. “He was that kind of person,” Blair said. “He would rather take it himself than have his buddies go down.”

The brigade’s senior noncommissioned officer, Command Sgt. Maj. William Johnson, also had high praise for McGinnis. “Any time when you get a soldier to do something like that – to give his life to protect his fellow soldiers – that’s what heroes are made of,” Johnson said.

It also demonstrates, Johnson continued, that the ‘MySpace Generation’ has what it takes to carry on the Army’s proud traditions.

“Some think soldiers who come in today are all about themselves,” Johnson said. “I see it differently.”

The Silver Star Medal has been approved for McGinnis’s actions December 4, and will be awarded posthumously.

On June 2nd 2008 McGinnnis was posthumously awarded the medal of honor. the medal was recieved by his parents Tom and Romayne McGinnis at a White House Ceremony.

After being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in the past two years, Al-Qaeda’s dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant “last stand” in the northern city of Mosul.

A huge operation to crush the 1,200 fighters who remained from a terrorist force once estimated at more than 12,000 began on May 10.

Operation Lion’s Roar, in which the Iraqi army combined forces with the Americans’ 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, has already resulted in the death of Abu Khalaf, the Al-Qaeda leader, and the capture of more than 1,000 suspects.

How did the American media miss this fact.  It causes one to wonder…