Arizona marching band headed to Pearl Harbor commemoration event
Jul 28, 2016, 2:13 PM | Updated: 2:23 pm
(KTAR Photo/Corbin Carson)
PHOENIX — A marching band from a Phoenix-area high school will be saying aloha to the Valley later this year when it heads to the 75th annual Pearl Harbor commemoration events.
“We’re very honored to be able to go there and serve and play for the troops,” senior Tyler Demers, trumpet section leader for the Mountain Ridge High School Pride of the West Marching Band, said.
The band will be one of 30 to play during the commemorative events being held over the Thanksgiving week.
Band director George Hattendorf said has has put together a marching show program that’s entitled “Fallen, But Never Forgotten.”
“We will be involved in not only the Waikiki Holliday Parade, but the USS Missouri and at the USS Arizona site,” he said.
Senior and drum major Sydney Van Dusen said she is looking forward most to honoring the troops.
“Our purpose with this is to pay our respect and show them how grateful we are,” she said. “Because if it weren’t for them then we wouldn’t have the freedom that we do now, and the opportunity to follow through with what we choose to do.”
The band will play a pre-game show at the Arizona Diamondbacks game on Aug. 6, as well as perform the national anthem.
The school is holding a fundraiser to send the band to Hawaii.
Another Phoenix-area marching band, Shadow Mountain High School, will also be going to Hawaii this year.
It will be there shortly after the Thanksgiving week and will take part in the 75th Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade, which is held annually on Dec. 7, the same day as the attack.