Veteran’s Day Reflections: Remembering A Musical Marine

I’ve always been fascinated by the connections that arise between music and the military.

I’ve seen tough guys playing trumpet in the United States Army Band, and a gutsy singer belting out her taken on Madonna hits in an energizing visit by a Navy rock band (bent on pop culture recruiting) to my middle school. I’ve been electrified by re-enactments of bagpipers leading the charge into bloody 1700’s-era battles.

The sound of courage: Recognizing our armed forces can be a musical undertaking.

Music is integral to every aspect of our lives, and that includes the men and women who courageously sign up to protect their nation. In America, we commemorate them on Veteran’s Day, paying homage to their service in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.

Every year I like to think I fully appreciate their sacrifice, but having never been in the armed services myself, of course, I never really can. But this year I may understand it a little better than before, having dedicated a solid amount of reading time to the incredibly written and researched book World War II at Sea: A Global History, written by Craig L. Symonds.

A comprehensive account of the European and Pacific naval theaters, Symonds employs lively language to unfold six years of action for the reader in rich detail. At turns heroic and terrifying, it’s compelling at every page. Strategy, tactics, diplomacy and politics are everywhere, but for me one theme emerges again and again: the incredible bravery it took to serve in the armed forces, and especially at sea. From sailors to marines, to aviators and even the merchant marine, setting out on the water was a huge gamble—you could attain great glory, or risk dying in countless horrible ways.

“World War II at Sea” is an excellent telling of the naval undertaking through the second World War.

World War II at Sea could be a painful read at times, but I’m the better for having gone through it. I feel similarly rewarded by an article that ran on SonicScoop in 2014, “Music As Survival: A Marine’s Military-Spec Studio Checklist.” This inspirational article by Alex Dengler, an ex-Marine and aspiring audio engineer at the time, perfectly fused the discipline of military life with the mental state required to succeed in the studio.

Alex’s plain-spoken story style, right down to his battles with cancer and his determination to get into the studio throughout, is a major motivator. The fact that he lost that battle three years later, succumbing to cancer at the age of 30, reinforces to me how tough he was—from the battlefield to what was going on in his body, Alex would give it his all. And all along, music was his muse.

To all the veterans past and present, those who make songs like Alex did or simply listen, I simply say “thank you”—and hope that you hear so much more in those words.

• David Weiss

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