Jason Burt will tell you that the music that shaped his family’s history – as well as that of the nation – was found in an attic more than seven decades after it was originally recorded by his grandfather’s military band.
Burt, who teaches history in Clarksburg, Calif., knew that his grandfather, Richard Burt, had played the trumpet in the 746th Far East Air Force Band in the Philippines during World War II.
“Everyone likes to talk about the battles,” he said. “You never hear about the band during the war and what they did. They boosted morale.”
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Burt said after the war was over in 1946, the band recorded 10 popular songs of the day in a jungle tent in the Philippines.
To the family, those recordings were no big secret. Richard talked about them, but the recording got misplaced until last year. Burt said like so many others, he had plenty of time to fill during the COVID-19 shutdown. That’s when the recordings were found in his granddad’s attic.
“We'd always known about these recordings,” he said. “Grandpa talked about them and I was kind of hoping they would turn up. We found them in the attic.”
Burt borrowed a record player and held his breath as placed the vinyl on it. Out came music that hadn’t been heard for nearly 75 years.
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“When I listened to the music, it was my own private concert with my grandpa,” he said
Burt had the records digitized and published in an album called "Sentimental Journey." He believes it may be the only known recording of a military band serving on the frontlines during the war.
“This was something I could do for my grandpa and his bandmates from the war,” said Burt.
Richard, who trained at Julliard, moved to West Sacramento after the war. He worked for years there as a school band teacher.
Burt said the goal is for his grandpa's band to win a Grammy in 2022 for best historical album.
To download the album, visit here.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
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