读者文摘:自学号角向老兵致敬(1)（在线收听）

The commuters in Excelsior, Minnesota, are too busy rushing to work to notice the lone figure climbing up to old Oak Hill Cemetery.

明尼苏达州的上班族们正赶着去上班，根本没有注意到一个长长的身影正爬上老橡树山的墓地。

He is a tanned, gray-haired man in -khakis and a golf shirt, and he is walking deliberately.

他皮肤黝黑、头发花白，穿着卡其裤和高尔夫球衫，走路很从容。

Gary -Marquardt spots a grave with an American flag on it, raises his trumpet, and plays.

加里·马夸特发现坟墓上有一面美国国旗，他举起小号，开始演奏。

"I love to hear taps echo through the cemetery," he says. "I'm doing something for these guys. It's kind of like being among friends."

“我喜欢听到葬礼的安息号，”他说。“我在为这些家伙做点什么，就像和朋友在一起。”

Gary will repeat the routine a dozen times over the next 45 minutes: finding a veteran, saying his name, and then playing taps.

在接下来的45分钟里，加里会重复这个动作十几次：找一个老兵，说出他的名字，然后吹着葬礼的安息号。

"I always think about the funeral, the people standing around here, so sad at the loss of their loved one,

“我总是想起葬礼，站在这里的人们，为失去所爱而悲伤，

and then it's over and you're left with this," Gary says, looking down at a grave.

一切结束了，剩下的就只有这些。”加里低头看着坟墓说。

The cemetery visits started three years ago, after Gary attended the military funeral of a friend's father, who had served during World War II.

第一次参加葬礼是在三年前，加里参加一个朋友父亲的军事葬礼，这位父亲曾在二战中服役。

It bothered Gary that a recording was being used for taps and not a live bugler.

加里担心的是，葬礼的安息号是录音录进去的而不是现场演奏的。

"It just seemed that after what they've given, an actual person playing taps wasn't much to ask for," he says.

他表示：“这些人付出了这么多，似乎真人现场演奏的要求并不过分。”

There was only one problem: Gary had never played a bugle.

只有一个问题：加里从未吹过号角。

He called Bugles Across America (BAA), an organization that provides buglers for military funerals.

他给全美军号打电话，这是一个为军事葬礼吹号角的组织。

They told him he would need to audition. So he walked into a music store and bought a horn. Then he started to practice.

他被通知需要试音，于是他走进一家音像店，买了一只号角，然后开始练习。