Soldier plays tribute to fallen comrades at Arlington National Cemetery
Sgt. Phillip J. Reddick plays taps in honor of Staff Sgt. Darryl D. Booker and Col. Paul M. Kelly Nov. 16, 2013, at their Arlington National Cemetery grave sites. Kelly and Booker were killed along with 10 other Soldiers Jan. 20, 2007, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter they were in crashed in Iraq. Reddick, an area coordinator and member of the Virginia National Guard Funeral Honors Program, joined more than 100 military buglers and trumpeters from 24 states in a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the sounding of taps by U.S. Army Bugler Keith Clark at the funeral of President John F. Kennedy. Reddick attended church with Booker and served in the same unit as both men. After volunteering to serve as a member of Booker's honor guard at his memorial service, Reddick was invited to join the Funeral Honors Program when it was formed in 2007, and he has support the funeral honors for more than 800 veterans. During the ceremony, the musicians conducted a massed sounding of taps in the Old Amphitheater, then moved to sites throughout the cemetery to sound taps at noon. The event was sponsored by Taps For Veterans, an organization devoted to providing live buglers for military funerals and ceremonies. (Photo by Cotton Puryear, Virginia National Guard Public Affairs)
Soldier plays tribute to fallen comrades at Arlington National Cemetery
Sgt. Phillip J. Reddick plays taps in honor of Staff Sgt. Darryl D. Booker and Col. Paul M. Kelly Nov. 16, 2013, at their Arlington National Cemetery grave sites. Kelly and Booker were killed along with 10 other Soldiers Jan. 20, 2007, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter they were in crashed in Iraq. Reddick, an area coordinator and member of the Virginia National Guard Funeral Honors Program, joined more than 100 military buglers and trumpeters from 24 states in a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the sounding of taps by U.S. Army Bugler Keith Clark at the funeral of President John F. Kennedy. Reddick attended church with Booker and served in the same unit as both men. After volunteering to serve as a member of Booker's honor guard at his memorial service, Reddick was invited to join the Funeral Honors Program when it was formed in 2007, and he has support the funeral honors for more than 800 veterans. During the ceremony, the musicians conducted a massed sounding of taps in the Old Amphitheater, then moved to sites throughout the cemetery to sound taps at noon. The event was sponsored by Taps For Veterans, an organization devoted to providing live buglers for military funerals and ceremonies. (Photo by Cotton Puryear, Virginia National Guard Public Affairs)