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I haven't seen many pictures like this.


General Batiste, on the right, at one of many memorial services he attended in Iraq.

From this article by Michael Yon.

So, any more photos of tubas in war?

A tuba wearing a helmet. Now that's protection from that SOB conductor... body armor, too?

Awesome picture, huge horn or small guy! Thanks for sharing...

Tim

Yes, and the opposite case in the front row:
small tuba, huge guy.

The topic is tubas in war. Two bands that will never fight in a war are the Marine Band in Washingon, DC, and the Coast Guard Band in New London, Connecticut. Those who join this band as recruits do not go through basic training. On the other hand, Pershing's Own did do a tour of Europe during World War II. Band members do fight in wars; the weapons training taught during basic training is not just to while away the time. Sometimes, just playing in the band can be dangerous. One US Army band, playing for a Tet parade in Saigon had some kind of grenade thrown down a sousaphone bell and many band members were lost.

This is the Hellfighters Band, part of the New York State National Guard, from New York City, on a ship en route to (or coming from) France, a few months after World War I. This all-Black band was led by 1LT Jim Europe, a well-respected composer who worked with the likes of Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle (Sissle was a band member). Europe is the man in glasses on the left side of the bass drum.

The band played hard and fought hard during their tour of duty during the war. After the war, as a goodwill gesture, they took of a tour of all the places where they fought in France to play free outdoor concerts.

When they came back, they first stopped in Boston, where they had a number of concert performances. Backstage, after one concert (in private), Lieutenant Europe made a comment to one of the drummers that he was playing too loudly. The drummer didn't like that and slit Europe's throat with a barber's razor. He died quickly.

This is the Colored [sic.] WAC Band from Fort Des Moines, Iowa, playing a concert in Chicago prior to the band's demise. The War Department was totally against the idea of a band of African-American women. After the women finished basic training, they were sent to the band barracks where the band's instruments would not arrive for several weeks. Their bandmaster led them as a women's chorus during that time. They were supposed to have a TOE of 40 members, but never had more than 20, including the bandmaster. The tuba section included a semiprofessional basketball player and a makeup artist at a mortuary. Actor Humphrey Bogart was a big fan of this band at this performance in Chicago.



This band existed 1943-44.

Here is a US Army band entertaining the troops at Tan Nhut Air Base during the Vietnam War.



Click on the picture to see the band better.

Cool pictures.
Really liked the last one.

This is a Union band during the American Civil War in 1862. One of the interesting things about this is that this unit is racially integrated, although the young African-American boy is actually a helper, not a full member of the band, although he probably played that bass drum. After Reconstruction, in the next major war, the Spanish-American War, the entire Army would be segregated by race.

This band has three tuba players, the first three guys in the back row. I believe those are backbelled instruments.

Not to leave anyone out, this is a Confederate tuba player from the Allen's Creations website. Though it's only an artist's rendering, it gives a good idea of a Civil War tuba player.

... but where are the tubi?

During the Spanish-American War, the Highty-Tighty Band from Virginia Tech became the Band of the 2nd Virginia Infantry Volunteers. They were stationed in Cuba.

Wonder if these guys were military musicians? (1862):

Regarding the Highty-Tighties: That unit was composed of not just the bandsmen from VPI (or VAMC if you like, which was what VT was called at the time) but recent alumni as well as volunteers from the town of Blacksburg, VA. A lot is made about this group (the current HT's wear a white cord in recognition of them) but they never even got to Cuba; they were still in Florida awaiting deployment when the war ended.

The Highty-Tighties are still a part of the Corp of Cadets at Virginia Tech, but in 1974 the school created a "civilian" band. Whether this is due to Vietnam and the Corp's dropping numbers, I'm not sure, but I expect so. Today, the Highty-Tighties number about 100, where as the "civilian" band, the Marching Virginians number in at 330. The HT's usually perform at pre-game at home football games, with the MV's taking half-time. The HT's have represented Tech and the Commonwealth of Virginia in the Presidential Inauguration parades since Woodrow Wilson's in 1917. The MV's are the "football band", traveling to away games and bowl games and generally just having a good time.

Sorry to go off topic, but when someone mentions anything about my school, I usually chime in...

Scooby Tuba wrote:I've seen that pic before. What the heck are those really?

Acoustic locators.

http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/COMMS/ear/ear.htm

Replace by RADAR in WWII.

phillip wrote:

Aren't those the tubas that they play 24 hrs a day at Guantanamo trying to "break" the prisoners that aren't there?

I can't tell from the picture. Are those in lacquer or silver finish? And are those piston or rotary valves? Are they for sale? What kind of mouthpiece would work best with these fine tubas?

TubaRay wrote:I can't tell from the picture. Are those in lacquer or silver finish? And are those piston or rotary valves? Are they for sale? What kind of mouthpiece would work best with these fine tubas?

Lacquer. Rotary. How much do you have? The kind that I will be willing to include when I sell you that monstrosity.

Ralph