Elkhart, Ind., continues Veterans Day taps tradition

ELKHART, Ind. — The sound of the taps will echo through a northern Indiana city for a third straight Veterans Day.

Organizer Terry Vantine tells The Elkhart Truth that about 75 musicians will be stationed around Elkhart's downtown streets on Friday, each taking a turn playing the 24 notes of taps.

Vantine launched the event after learning about Bugles Across America, a national nonprofit that stations buglers at military funerals.

The echo taps will begin at 10 a.m. Vantine says that after a brief 9 a.m. ceremony at a cemetery, a bus will carry buglers and Civil War re-enactors to three local elementary schools to perform a miniature version of echo taps.

Organizers hope it will spark conversation in classrooms about who veterans are and why they should be honored.