Governor Blunt reinstates live bugler program

ST. LOUIS -- Gov. Matt Blunt said Friday he has directed the Missouri National Guard to use live buglers when available to play taps at military funerals, reversing a previous decision by the National Guard to discontinue their use.

"It is important that as a state we honor the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedom," Gov. Blunt said in a statement. "I have the greatest respect for those who have worn the uniforms of our Armed Forces and their commitment to defending our values."

The Guard will use live buglers whenever possible as a sign of respect, he said.

Live buglers were last used at military funerals in Missouri on Sept. 14. That decision was prompted by reductions in federal money for the Missouri National Guard, at a time when much of military spending is focused on the war, Maj. Paul Kirchhoff, director of Missouri's funeral honors program had said. The Guard referred questions to the governor's office Friday.

The governor's spokeswoman, Jessica Robinson, said the Guard made the decision to discontinue live taps at military funerals without the governor's knowledge. When Blunt learned of it, he directed the change, she said. The cost of live buglers, musicians often hired by contract, can be done within the Guard's existing budget, she said. The governor, a Republican, continues to serve as a lieutenant commander in the naval reserve.

The Missouri National Guard posts an honor guard at veterans' grave sites upon request. Funeral honors can include the presentation of a flag and coin in Missouri, a volley fire presentation and the playing of taps, depending on a family's wishes.

Musicians have been paid $25 per service to play taps inside state cemeteries and $50 to perform it outside.

In the past year, live buglers were used at 37 percent of funerals statewide that included military honors. At Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery outside of St. Louis, more than 90 percent of funerals were supported with a live bugler in the past year, Blunt's office said.

When a live bugler is not available, the funeral honors team will continue to use the ceremonial bugle, a bugle outfitted with an electronic device that plays taps.

The Guard began using the ceremonial bugle in 2002, using them when buglers were not available to play live.

Bugler Mary Weber, who has performed taps live at military funerals for about eight years, began to cry on the telephone when she heard of the policy change. She said she was ecstatic that the decision was reversed.

"I didn't have any ill feelings toward any faction of my government, but it was just so sad," she said of the previous decision to do away with the live playing of taps at military funerals in Missouri.

She said she's played at funerals for soldiers who died in conflicts from Iraq to veterans of World War II. Live taps, she said, is a way for the military to honor its veterans.