Herndon Band Takes Trip of a Lifetime

“To know your future you must know your past.”

-- George Santayana

On June 4, the Herndon High School Band traveled to Normandy, France to perform at the 75th anniversary of D-Day ceremonies. For the approximately 150 high school students and 50 chaperones, it was an experience they will never forget.

It was a chance to come a little closer to understanding the power, both awesome and awful, of that day that came a few brutal years after the day that "would live in infamy." It was an opportunity to understand what happened in those days after the storming of the beaches and to write a new chapter: one based on the power of place - and sacrifice. Finally, it was a privilege to carry the names, faces, and stories of the men of the USS Herndon, the lead ship at Omaha Beach.

The HHS band, known as The Pride of Herndon, played at three different ceremonies commemorating the 75th anniversary of D-Day on June 6 and the two days that followed. On the anniversary of D-Day they performed at the Brittany American Cemetery Ceremony, playing a “mass band” version of "Hymn to the Fallen" (originally written for the end of the movie Saving Private Ryan) with nine other U.S. high school bands and the University of Texas Longhorn Alumni Band.

On June 7, the Pride played at the Normandy American Cemetery, marching into their place. Before they played that day, three members of the Pride, students at HHS, spoke to the crowd. Laura Evans, Thomas Longuillo and Matthew Steil spoke of being changed by their time there, by their time spent with World War II veterans, and their gratitude for the men and women who sacrificed so much for freedom.

Evans, rising junior at HHS and trumpet player, summed up the experience: “Standing in Normandy in front of so many D-Day veterans and noble, accomplished people made me feel very small. But these veterans probably felt small, too, as they approached the beaches. The most powerful moment for me was being allowed to shake the hands of the heroes of D-Day, to talk to them and see them as real people instead of pictures on television or characters in movies. If these men of the greatest generation, regular people with stories and smiles for me, could fight against injustice and tyranny, there is no reason our generation cannot also do great things.”

While they were at the Normandy American Cemetery, members of the Pride sprinkled dried dogwood petals they had brought with them on the graves of Virginians who died at Normandy.

On June 9, they played at Sainte Mere-Eglise. Not once, but twice. A concert in the morning and marched in a parade in the afternoon.

Tired? Maybe. But inspired and driven.

While performing in Normandy, the students carried “honor tags” on their shoulders with images and stories of soldiers who served on the USS Herndon. Several students had the opportunity to meet the families of the soldiers they were honoring in Normandy, and every student wrote a letter to the family of the man whose picture and story they carried. Band member (trombone and baritone) Jake Cuppernull recounted how touching it was to meet Brian Brown, son of USS Herndon serviceman Edwin Wilson Brown Jr. and how precious it was to be speaking with people who were related to soldiers who lived through that day.

“Being able to carry these soldiers, not only on honor tags, but in our hearts, helped carry on the soldiers' legacy and the importance of the sacrifices that they made live on,” said Jake. (Full disclosure, son of the author.)

Pride of Herndon Band Director Kathleen Jacoby summed up the trip this way, “Listening to WWII vets share their memories during the ceremonies really brought home to me how similar these men were 75 years ago to my own students today. All of them talked about finishing high school early to enlist, right after we had 150 kids take final exams early to go on this trip. The speakers had such different personalities, senses of humor, and takes on the war, just like my students.”

And on the fourth day? They went to Paris.

Truly a trip of a lifetime.