In recognition of Memorial Day, and to remember those who served honorably, many which gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country, we dedicate this blog to them.




(As always, teachers are encouraged to use any or all of this blog as lessons for your students in your classrooms.)

Trumpet Call
The Vietnam Memorial will have been in Bisbee, Arizona on May 26, 27, 28, 29,  so I would like to share those memorable times in my life that helped to shape me as an individual, recalling and taking pride in being of service to my country.
Having completed my college degree program during the summer of 1966, I was anxious to go to work somewhere, and I was offered a job to work with my old friends, Norman and Mary Dart at The Music Box in Bisbee.  Later, I will share the Norman and Mary Dart story and their Music Box store in another blog because they were an integral part of Bisbee and the music scene, and they deserve recognition in a hall of fame or other manner because they were visionary and dedicated business leaders who felt a special bond to Bisbee and the entire Southern Arizona and border areas. They did so through their charity and community work, and therefore, we will devote their story for a later blog.

In 1966, young men were getting drafted, and if you were not in college or married, chances are, you would most certainly be called up.  Being in neither of these two categories, I knew that it would be my time soon, and therefore,  one day, shortly thereafter, my good music buddy Ernesto and I went to La Taverna Bar on Main Street in Old Bisbee.  Now Ernesto had always played in one of the groups that I was involved with, and he was like an experienced brother who usually gave me pretty good advice.  First of all, it is important to note that,  today, La Taverna Bar no longer exists, but in its place is the popular La Roka Restaurant, one of the finest restaurants in the State of Arizona here in Bisbee.  Now at that time,  La Taverna was owned and managed by the bartender that everyone called Yayo, and Yayo's specialty was a couple of short draft beers followed by a shot of his better whiskeys that he served to everyone.  And everyone meant everyone because one could walk into La Taverna on any given day of the work week around happy hour time, and you would find miners-going to or getting off work from the underground, county court workers--attorneys, administrators, clerical, business owners and shopkeepers, city employees and school teachers and anyone else that wanted to have some type of conversation.  So in this setting at La Taverna on one of those typical busy and hot summer afternoons, Ernesto and myself stopped in for some refreshments.  Ernesto who was working at Ft. Huachuca and knew lots of people on post turned to me and said, "Did you know that the Army Band up on Post is always looking for musicians and they are in need of some players now?"  "You can play for an audition, and you will get a direct assignment, but you must go RA."  "That's 3 years of enlistment."  I thought about it and said to Ernie, "I can do that."  Now about that time, besides playing the trumpet, I was also playing the sax and the flute as I had learned to play more musical instruments and I was confident in doing this.  Well, I followed through on Ernesto's suggestion, and shortly thereafter, I did go visit with the Army Band people, and they gave me an audition which I passed.  However, they were in desperate need of a flute/piccolo player and so, when I enlisted, I came into the Army as an 02G flute/piccolo player at Ft. Huachuca right after basic at Ft. Bliss.   However,  I played the trumpet more than I did the flute/piccolo in the Army Band because of the Band's mission and support of the Army at that time.  Being an Army Bandsman for 3 years was a great experience, and later, I hope to share some of these memorable ones in a future blog.  In a nutshell, however, I will say that there were some excellent professional musicians that helped me grow musically in the Band at Ft. Huachuca.  Well, my committment with the Army Band was for a year at the Fort and it was honored although I was levied to go to Vietnam but my orders were rescinded because of the need for musicians at that time.  And then, during my 2nd year, I was to go to Germany but there was a mix-up  on my orders and I stayed at Ft. Huachuca.  Incidently, the Army Band at Ft. Huachuca was not able to fulfill their unit personnel position requirements, and at that time it was an all-male unit so females had not been authorized to play in the Band. Thus, at the post retreat held every week on Fridays, one bugler or trumpet player had to play "To the colors" when lowering the flag, and you guessed right.  I was given the honors to do this.  Finally, in 1968, the Tet offensive occurred in Vietnam and there were many casualties as a result.  And one of the Army Band's duties was to provide the funeral detail for the deceased military personnel wherever and whenever needed.  This included the bugler(trumpet), and there was an unofficial count of the funeral details assisted by each bugler in the form of a cross.  In 1968, I had approximately 98 crosses besides my name and I played "Taps" for all of the branches--Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines--in almost every cemetery in the State of Arizona and some that are unknown to the public.

These were memorable times for myself because I was able to serve my country, and utilize my God-given talent when there was a need.  Somehow, I believe the man upstairs wanted this from me.

U.S.S. Arizona
On Dec. 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor, on a day that will forever be etched into a moment of time that changed our country forever, the Arizona battleship along with other US vessels were struck by aircraft of the imperial Japanese navy.

On the Arizona battleship, the 22nd U.S. Navy Band attached to this ship was preparing to play the national anthem but they never were able to play it because they came under attack on that fateful morning. As their training had prepared them, these young bandsmen went to their assigned battle stations where they were to assist in the handling of the munitions needed to fight such a battle.

This group of young musicians had just completed their music military training together before they had shipped out on the Arizona. They came from all over the union, some had recently graduated from high school, others had attended college, and others had played in professional bands before enlisting.

USS Arizona 22nd U.S. Navy Band

According to an article by Meg Jones in the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel recently, it states that "It was the only U.S. Navy Band that formed, trained, transferred to a ship, competed against other bands, fought in combat and died together".  More information on the 22nd US Navy Band can be found in a book titled  USS Arizonas Last Band by Molly Kent.

A Trumpet Plays Over Arizona along with its followers would like to honor the young men of USS Arizona 22nd U.S. Navy Band for their service, dedication and ultimate sacrifice for our country.

USS Arizona Memorial

At the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ the USS Arizona Memorial is dedicated to the individuals that made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, and there are several websites dedicated to the USS Arizona Memorial  if one wishes to find out more information.

Big Band Music and WWII

My enjoyment for music and the desire to perform it has always crossed across different genres of music styles, and as stated before in an earlier blog, my exposure to the big band sound came during my high school career with the Starlighters dance band.  The big band sound, especially the sounds of, although not limited to,  Benny Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers, and Glen Miller and his band which provided music to many of the troops during  World War II have always touched my musical soul whenever listening to this type of music. So, when the story of "the greatest generation" was written and told, my first thoughts came back to those individuals who had sacrificed so much at this time because my family on my father's side suffered two losses at this time leaving one to wonder what if.  What if the 2 uncles had lived, and their offspring would have flourished.  And so when I listen to the big band sounds, I am taken back to that time period.  Now, I would like to share the following under the:

Bisbee-French Connection

Several years ago, our family was contacted by an officer, a Lieutenant in the French Navy, who was attempting to meet members of the Hirales clan in Arizona because he had an interesting story to share with us.  It seems that the French Naval Officer was conducting research for some type of educational project, and had decided to pursue the Allied operations conducted in the South of France during 1944.

On Aug. 14-15, 1944, the U.S. 509th, 517th, and 551st Parachute Infantry Regiments conducted a series of military operations in Southern France. as part of the First Airborne Task Force.

When the French Lieutenant was conducting his research years later, according to him, he came across an egg farm close to the area of the WWII military operation in 1944.   He asked the farmer if he could check the farm area for any artifacts that would help his research.  The farmer agreed, and said that there were still some items from the soldiers.  As a matter of fact, he said, he pointed to a helmet on one of the fences on his farm, and so, the Lieutenant proceeded to inspect it.  According to the Lieutenant, helmets were marked with ID numbers, and after researching the number with the proper U.S. military records agency, it was identified as belonging to:

Ralph V. Hirales

Private First Class, U.S. Army

509th Parachute Infantry Battalion

                    According to the American Battle Monuments Commission, the following information is pertinent to Ralph V. Hirales, PFC, U.S. Army:

                    Entered the Service from:  Arizona

                    Died:  August 25, 1944

                    Buried at:  Plot A Row 2 Grave 15

                    Rhone American Cemetery

                    Draguignan, France

                    Awards:  Combat Infantryman Badge, Parachutist Badge with                                          Combat Jump Star, Purple Heart, EAME Campaign
                               Medal with Arrowhead

Ralph was born in Bisbee and attended the Bisbee schools until he was old enough to work, and so, he left school in order to support his family.  His family lived on Jones Hill which was adjacent to Dubacher Canyon right below what is known as Chihuahua Hill.  As a young man, he worked for the Phelps Dodge Store as a delivery man at the time and later signed up for the U.S. Army.  He was stationed at Camp Carson, Colorado and upon becoming an infantryman, volunteered to become a paratrooper, and so he went to Ft. Benning, Georgia and became part of the 509th Parachute Regiment.  The 509th was involved in military operations in North Africa, and then in Italy.  Later, they fought in Southern France in an area known today as St. Tropez where Ralph was killed.

There are 2 excellent books that have lots and lots of information and pictures of the 509th if anyone wishes to know more, and these are:

Stand In The Door by Charles H. Doyle and Terrel Stewart

Operation Dragoon: Autopsy of a Battle by Jean Loup Gassend

Ralph had an older brother ( another uncle),  Felipe, who was killed in New Guinea in the Phillipines in 1942.   Later, we will explore and detail more about the older brother (other uncle), and his service for our country in a later blog.


In a final note in regards to Ralph Hirales and his band of brothers, we would like to remember these heroes for their service, for their dedication, for their sacrifice for our country on this Memorial Day and everyday for the rest of our lives.

When I hear the strains of music, especially like "Moonlight Serenade" one of the epic songs made famous by the renowned bandleader and composer, Glenn Miller during the war years, my musical spirit is lifted back to those times, and I visualize how it might have been then for these individuals in those times as they parted from their families and their loved ones to never return again.

Men of Bisbee Who Made the Supreme 

Sacrifice

World War II

                                Manuel Abasta Jr.          Frank Lee Adams

                                John Aira Jr.                   Robert Edwin Bell

                                Arthur Benko                  Josiah Bond

                                Theodore R. Bozarth      French Lee Brandon

                                France M. Branson        Marcus Brown

                                Blanche L. Busey            Charles L. Callahan

                                Felix M. Chavez              Charles Thomas Cleveland

                                Robert Leon Cox            Henry Earl Crist

                                Harold Cummins            Harold Cummins

                                Jack L. Davis                   Billy L. Decker

                                Dale E. Decker                Howard Dennison

                                Martin Dodge                  George F. Donahue

                                Jack J. Doughty              Jack S. Dymock

                                Antonio P. Escalante       Rafael Esquer

                                Maurice L. Forrey          Marvin Gale

                                Gus J. Gaxiola                 George A. Glasson

                                Al B. Goodall                   Robert B. Graham

                                William A. Graham        Horace M. Hill

                                George H. Holland          Felipe V. Hirales

                                Ralph V. Hirales              Harvey Hughes

                                Peter K. Ivanovich          John M. Lindholm

                                Tom C. Medigovich         Paul Merrill

                                William S. Metzler          David M. Mikels

                                 Albert Mitchell, Jr.         John A. Moore

                                 Alfonso Morales              James J. Murphy

                                 Allen Q. Nations              Joyce A. Ralph

                                 Earl E. Nichols                Anthony J. Nicholson Jr.

                                 Bernard J. Roth              Ray S. Ruiz

                                 Karl Schandelmeier        Robert R. Schmid

                                 James C. Sessions            Andrew E. Sheek

                                 William F. Shields           Charles L. Sotelo

                                 Fred C. Standish            Clarence W. Stemen Jr.

                                 James W. Stevenson       Alfred C. Stoddard

                                 Dewitt S. Terry               Edward E. Thomas Jr.

                                 Dominick G. Troglia      Felisandro M. Valenzuela

                                 Paul D. Warner              Earl E. Watts

                                William H. Webb            Henry N. Wolcott Jr.

                                 Earl B. Wood                 George C. Wylie

                                         Bisbee World War 2 Memorial
                                                     Lavender Pit
                                                   Bisbee, Arizona

                                        
                                       Bisbee World War 2 Memorial
                                                 Evergreen Cemetery
                                                     Bisbee, Arizona

"A Trumpet Plays Over Arizona" would like to recognize and honor
Ralph Sproule, U.S. Navy, who provided his dedicated and disciplined research on many of  these conflicts, especially when it involved Bisbee residents.

As a final moment of tribute from "A Trumpet Plays Over Arizona", we would like to share this beautiful poem written by Emily Toma:

                                         On This Memorial Day
                                                  by Emily Toma
                                 Remember those who served before
                                 Remember those who are no more
                                 Remember those who serve today
                                 Remember them as we eat and play
                                 Remember our protectors
                                      who are not home today
                                 Remember them all on Memorial Day

Phillip A. Hirales
"A Trumpet Plays Over Arizona"