13-year-old sounding taps to open Veterans Day at state fair
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - A 13-year-old from Bradley will sound taps on her trumpet to open Veterans Day at the Illinois State Fair.
The Daily Journal reports Emma Caise will be on stage Sunday as part of the Gold Star Family Memorial Service. Three days later she'll start high school.
The teen has played more than two dozen military funerals with the Marine Corps League Detachment No. 1253 based in Kankakee. She started playing with the group at age 11, when her grandfather died and no one else was available to sound taps at his service.
Caise says she's nervous but "very excited and honored."
Several members of the Kankakee detachment plan to attend Sunday to support her.
Her mother, Amanda Caise, says "it's kind of like he's got more grandpas now."
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Information from: The Daily Journal, http://www.daily-journal.com