The 100th Army Band, a U.S. Army Reserve band stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and nicknamed the “Band of the Century,” performed in a series of concerts in France earlier this year to commemorate the 80th anniversary of U.S. forces' landing on D-Day, June 6, 1944, in Normandy. U.S. Soldiers stormed the beaches against intense German fire. The performances also marked the first time the 100th AB has traveled overseas since World War II, when the band was the band for the 100th Infantry Division.
First Sgt. Curtis Moss, a 100th AB tuba player from LaCenter, Kentucky, and the band’s first sergeant, said he felt a personal connection to the event through his family’s history.
“My grandfather served as a field artillery Soldier in the First Army during World War II,” Moss said. “So, for me, even though I didn’t get to know him very well, I got to have a connection by being in a place where he was, also in a role as a Soldier.”
Sgt. 1st Class Eric Stroupe II, a trumpet and bugler from Radcliff, Kentucky, with Brass Quintet B, said 36 of the 45 Soldiers assigned to the 100th AB performed 18 concerts from June 1 to 8. This meant basically every Soldier who was not in a school or could otherwise not attend, got a chance to be part of the mission.
The band took a ceremonial band and two brass quintets (consisting of one tuba, one French horn, one trombone, two trumpets and a percussionist), who performed 12 missions at events throughout the commemoration, sometimes simultaneously. The 100th band performed at parades, on the beach at Normandy in front of 50,000 people during the reenactment and with the U.S. Army Europe and Africa band as well as with performers from local French communities.
“A lot of ceremonies were in French, and we played French parts as well, so we relied heavily on some very specific cues, since none of us speak French,” Moss said.
Moss said performing in France also gave the 100th AB Soldiers a chance to understand and appreciate the monumental significance of D-Day, and what it still means to the people of France.
“The French people’s love and support for the American Soldier, and appreciation for what they did is amazing,” Moss said. "One of the French officials who gave a speech at the first ceremony we performed at said if it weren’t for the American Soldier, we would probably not be celebrating today, and we would be speaking German. Their love and understanding of the American Soldier 80 years later still echoes very loudly, particularly in that area of France.”
Moss has a unique connection to both the 100th Army Band, in which he now performs, and having previously served in the 100th Division at Fort Knox, where he served as both a drill sergeant and as an armor instructor, since he originally enlisted as an armored crewman in 1998. During World War II, the 100th Infantry Division was part of the Seventh United States Army, commanded by General George S. Patton.
“Having been an armor Soldier, Patton is a huge figure,” Moss said. “I performed at a park that is dedicated to General Patton, and his granddaughter spoke there, and I got to have a conversation with her about armor and tanks, and she definitely carries his spirit. That was an incredible experience for me.”
Another highlight for the band was spending time with some of the few remaining survivors of D-Day. Some of the band members were in their tents after lunch when event organizers needed 12 volunteers to pull security for a signing event with some of the survivors. Moss said he was assigned to a survivor from the Navy, Wallace Johnson, and got to spend about four or five hours with him.
“The youngest of those heroes is 95, and I got to speak with him one day,” Moss said. “The survivors have a running joke, where they say ‘Did you lie about your age?’, and he said, ‘Nope, but my recruiting officer sure did!’”
The 100th AB has returned to a busy schedule of performances since returning from Europe last month.
“One of the unique parts about being a member of the 100th AB, is that we are the band that supports Fort Knox the most,” Moss, who taught elementary and high school music for 21 years on the civilian side, said. “There has not been an active duty band on Fort Knox in more than a decade.”
This means the 100th AB is THE band on post and is constantly supporting requests from various units for performances as well as community events and ceremonies. Although band members are Reserve Soldiers, they are constantly afforded opportunities to go on orders to use their musical talents to represent the U.S. Army. The 100th Band routinely performs in a monthly retirement ceremony, Master Leader Course graduations, change of command and responsibility ceremonies and dining out ceremonies. In addition to these events, the 100th AB has performed at the Fourth of July Parade in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Cincinnati Reds baseball games, opening sessions of the Kentucky State Senate and at various events with the Hard Knox Rock Band.
With all these experiences under their belt, however, the performances in France will always be a special memory for the 100th AB musicians.
“For me, it’s been a very humbling experience,” Spc. Austin Meyer, a tuba player from Benton, Kentucky, with the brass quintet, said. “My brass quintet played at Utah Beach during a reenactment ceremony with the Seals and Golden Knights. My grandfather was a German immigrant who came to the U.S. after World War II, and it was really humbling to see where everything happened during D-Day for my family and myself.”
Stroupe who along with Meyer make up two of the eight Murray State University alumni playing with the 100th AB at Fort Knox, agreed.
“It was tremendously humbling to be able to perform as a bugler and honor the fallen in an allied nation, both from the American side and the French side – it was something I’ll always remember.”
