MUSIC WAS AN ANTIDOTE FOR STRESS AND STRAIN, HELPED KEEP UP MORALE; SOLDIERS INSTRUMENTAL IN WORLD WAR II EFFORT.Byline: Dennis McCarthy Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
``We played while artillery shells screamed overhead and bombs dropped around us. We played as the sick, wounded and dying were hauled in from the battlefield. We played while a soldier was having his leg amputated. We played when the only reminder that there was a purpose for living was the music that came from those instruments. The louder the noises of war got, the louder we played.'' These poignant, gripping words were written by Roland Dragon for Overture, the monthly publication of the American Federation of Musicians The American Federation of Musicians (AFM/AFofM) is a labor union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada. The American Federation of Musicians was founded in 1896, at which time it took over from an older and looser organization of local (AFL-CIO AFL-CIO: see American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. AFL-CIO in full American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations U.S. ), Local 47 in Los Angeles. A copy was sent to me by Jimmy Bays, also a member of the union, who thought I might enjoy reading Roland's story, titled ``The Power of Music.'' I did, very much. It is one of those grand stories from a not-so-grand time when the human spirit was stretched dangerously thin for our GIs overseas, surrounded by so much death and destruction. Into that scene, a ragtag rag·tag adj. 1. Shaggy or unkempt; ragged. 2. Diverse and disorderly in appearance or composition: "They're a small ragtag army of racketeers, bandits, and murderers" group of infantrymen-musicians stepped out of the trenches and helped the human spirit kick war right in the teeth. It was a brash idea from a brash Army private about to ship overseas with his infantry unit to join the Allied invasion forces in England. This kid named Roland Dragon was requesting his commanding officers give him $200 to buy some used musical instruments to take with the unit overseas. ``They wanted to know how buying some musical instruments was going to help us win the damn war,'' Dragon said Monday from his Burbank home. ``I told them music was an antidote for stress and strain, helped keep up morale.'' Reluctantly, the request was finally OK'd by the brass with the proviso that whatever playing of instruments Dragon's makeshift band did overseas would be on their own time and not interfere with other duties - like fighting a war. The day before shipping out, Dragon haunted the pawnshops of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , returning with a drum set, trumpet, trombone trombone [Ital.,=large trumpet], brass wind musical instrument of cylindrical bore, twice bent on itself, having a sliding section that lengthens or shortens it and thus regulates the pitch. The descendant of the sackbut, it was developed in the 15th cent. , tenor sax, clarinet, guitar and beat-up accordion - all crated to ship out, too. ``Most of the instruments looked like they had already been to war,'' Dragon laughs. The brash private had his instruments. Now all he needed was the band to play them. ``I put the word out around the Queen Elizabeth I was starting a band and needed some players,'' he said. ``Pretty soon, guys started coming up to me. `Hey, I play the clarinet, the drums. . . .' ``By the time we landed in England, I had my band. But we lost our clarinet player on Utah Beach and had to find a replacement. Two weeks later, we were bogged down by enemy resistance in the forest of Normandy when the instruments caught up with us. ``Two hours later, one of the weirdest episodes in the annals of American warfare took place: Dixieland jazz to the accompaniment of incoming artillery fire,'' Roland said. ``The effect was unbelievable. There is no doubt in my mind that the Germans heard it, too. I can only imagine what they were thinking.'' With every lull in the action, this ragtag band of infantrymen, who by then had won the moniker (1) A name, title or alias. See alias. (2) A COM object that is used to create instances of other objects. Monikers save programmers time when coding various types of COM-based functions such as linking one document to another (OLE). See COM and OLE. ``The Conquerors'' from the rest of their unit, picked up their instruments and started jamming. ``It was like a wake-up call to the morale of the troops,'' Roland said. ``Soon we were being loaded, along with our instruments, onto Army trucks and transported to staging areas and field hospitals to play for the men there.'' Proudly, Dragon displays a letter of commendation from Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, and a copy of Stars and Stripes, the Stars and Stripes, The Newspaper for U.S. military personnel. It first appeared in single editions during the American Civil War and was revived as a weekly for troops in Europe at the end of World War I. military publication. It reads, ``The Conquerors' contribution to the war effort will never be known, but many a soldier will know.'' After the war, the Conquerors returned to Fort Bragg and played for the last time together at a USO USO: see United Service Organizations. (UNIX Software Operation) AT&T's Unix division before it turned into USL. See Unix. dance. ``When we were deactivated and turned in our uniforms, the quartermaster quartermaster Officer who oversees arrangements for the quartering and movement of troops. The office dates at least to the 15th century in Europe. The French minister of war under Louis XIV created a quartermaster general's department that dotted the countryside with said, `We want those instruments, too.' I couldn't believe I was hearing right. ``Such a big chunk of our lives, our very souls, were wrapped up in those war-torn but beautiful instruments,'' Dragon said. ``When I handed them over, I handed over so many happy memories, so many sad memories.'' The Conquerors went their separate ways and never saw each other again. Dragon went on to become a successful Hollywood studio musician, playing bass on such shows as Burns & Allen, Prudential Hour, Colgate Comedy Hour, Kraft Music Hall The Kraft Music Hall was a major NBC radio variety program, featuring top show business entertainers, in a 16-year span from 1933 to 1949. Kraft Foods was the first advertiser to sponsor a two-hour radio program, in an era when many radio programs were only 15 minutes long and Lux Radio Theatre. He is still active in local San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. big bands, including the Lenny Burns Orchestra, which plays most every Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m. at Schaber's Cafeteria in North Hollywood. Once in awhile, Dragon even brings out an old metal clarinet he keeps in his closet at home - the one he smuggled smug·gle v. smug·gled, smug·gling, smug·gles v.tr. 1. To import or export without paying lawful customs charges or duties. 2. To bring in or take out illicitly or by stealth. out of the quartermaster's office more than 50 years ago. Back when a ragtag group of infantrymen-musicians played for the sick, wounded and dying overseas, and the only reminder that there was a purpose for living was the music that came out of those war-torn, beautiful instruments. CAPTION(S): PHOTO Roland Dragon of Burbank still has a clarinet he took overseas in World War II. Evan Yee/Daily News |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion