Soldier, U.S. Army Field Band
by Erica—Age 34—Baltimore, MD
Does this sound like work to you?
Get up at eight. Go for a run. Grab breakfast. Take a shower. Pack my suitcase, load the bus, drive to the next hotel.
Nap. Read.
Cook dinner on a butane camp stove set up on the hotel room’s desk.
Write a bunch of certificates making high school clarinetists and trombonists honorary members of our band.
Shake hands with a nice old lady whose husband fought in Korea.
Hug this little dude whose daddy is in Iraq.
Smile until my face hurts because you just never know who’s in the audience tonight, never know who might really need to see that smile.
Double-check Sara’s collar brass every night, because it’s usually crooked, and we want the veterans to be proud of us.
Hide in the wings when the colonel greets recently returned Soldiers out on the stage, so I can watch the standing ovation without getting choked up in front of anyone.
Try not to cry, every single night, during the Armed Forces Salute.
Cheer a thousand cheers during the encore because my best friend the
trumpeter is just that good, and because the audience loves his playing just that much.
Disassemble the drum kit after the show, trying not to run into the flock of little kids who want to be drummers just like Billy.
Push the anvil cases out toward the truck and try not to run into that guy
who just wants to talk about how he used to be in the Army.
Wave back at the folks still outside the high school auditorium, who wave at our buses, some of them with tears in their eyes.
Say hi to the hotel night manager who made us a batch of cookies.
Put on my pajamas. Call my husband and tell him it’s only a couple more
weeks, and please take the dog for a walk when we finish our call.
Look at my suitcase, which appears to have exploded on my side of the room, and sigh. Turn out the light and say goodnight to my roommate.
You bet it’s work.
I’m a soldier with The U.S. Army Field Band, and it’s all about making sure that Americans remember all the other soldiers putting their lives on the line every day.
I have the best job in the world.
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