After Saturday's ceremony marking Veterans Day at VFW Post 33 in Greensburg, World War II veteran Julius Falcon reached into his pocket and handed Navy veteran John Massari a tie clasp in the shape of a bugle. Moments later, Massari, 67, searched for the words to explain what the tie clasp meant to him. Like his hero Falcon, Massari is a member of the fraternity of buglers at military funerals. "It's a passing of the bugle," Massari said solemnly. Falcon, who at age 84 is slightly bent and walks with a shuffle, served with the 158th Regimental Combat Team, one of Gen. Douglas MacArthur's outfits, during the U.S. Army's island-hopping days of 1943-45. From Dutch New Guinea to the Philippines, Falcon's unit was bloodied but always triumphant in combat against the Japanese. In a foxhole on one of those islands, Falcon swore to God that if he got out of the war alive, he would continue to do what he had been doing: playing taps at burials of the fallen. Sixty years later, Falcon has not broken faith. He blew taps at a funeral on Friday. It was his 4,996th time. Yesterday, Falcon was honored with a plaque and kind words for his years of service. "I did it because I was scared," he told the audience that crowded inside Post 33. "I regard taps as a prayer and I try to play it that way," Falcon said later, surrounded by well-wishers. "I played taps for two of my brothers. If there's a flag on the coffin, I play." The tribute to Falcon followed remarks by former Marine Sgt. Christopher Demorest, a veteran of the war in Iraq. Standing behind the podium, Demorest, 33, a postal worker and a life member of Post 33, could hardly bring himself to speak during the first few minutes. A big man more than 6 feet tall, Demorest tugged at the ends of his Marine Corps coat and took several deep breaths. His voice, never loud, grew in resonance the longer he spoke. Attached to a machine-gun section of the 6th Marine Regiment, Demorest provided a brief history of his unit's service in Iraq, which lasted five months, from February to May 2003. Demorest chuckled to himself, remembering the helicopter ride that deposited him and his fellow Marines in Iraq. The pilot and crew were British. "They flew low and they flew fast," he said. Demorest's narrative of the war came without fireworks. Assigned to guard a runway crowded with Predator drones, Demorest recalled some dogs that came by, wanting to be fed. The Marines fed them. "It was nice," Demorest said. "It was almost like home." His unit also guarded, in succession, a water purification plant and an ammunition supply depot. They went everywhere in Iraq by helicopter. "Some days I miss it," Demorest said, referring to his time in Iraq. Falcon was accompanied yesterday by his wife of 58 years, Dolly. They married after World War II, when Falcon was fronting his own big band. Massari called Falcon "probably the greatest trumpet player to come out of the Greensburg area." "He still has a lip," Massari said. "The guy is still great." In playing the sweet, haunting notes of taps, Falcon's technical ability is matched by his heart, Massari said. The war years are never far away for Falcon. He opened his wallet to a photograph of himself and movie star John Wayne snapped on one of those southwestern Pacific islands the Americans and the Japanese had fought over. Wayne had flown in with a USO tour. A member of the band got sick. They asked for volunteers. Falcon played that day. Falcon said he always remembered the advice given him by a World War I vet just before he went overseas. "He said, 'You take that horn with you. It will take you a long way,' " Falcon said.

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