It has become a familiar, even expected experience in a neighborhood of Tacoma, Washington. Every day, Don Brittain, 78, checks to see when sunset will occur. When it does, he stands on his back porch and plays "Taps" slowly on his trumpet.
His neighbors now walk out to their own porches and silently stand at attention while the 24 notes flow out across Puget Sound. It is a shared experience of reverence:
"[I want to] support our guys who are over there fighting" said Don. "I had polio as a kid so I couldn't serve."
For him, that was one of the worst things about getting polio.
"I would have served in a heartbeat," he said.
Yet, Don's daily ritual is not just for the soldiers, it's also for his neighbors. They now take it as seriously as Don does. As soon as Don begins to play, his neighbors come outside and stand at attention.
"It seems to move people," said Don. "It has an effect on them."
In our everyday, hectic lives there is almost nothing that gets people to stop like this and reflect, but in Tacoma, under Don's leadership, people spend twenty-four notes nightly doing exactly that.
You can read more at CBS News (warning: auto-play video).
-via American Digest