SPOKANE, Wash. — An 88-year-old Spokane man played Taps for the final time this March after 25 years of performing at servicemember burials at the Washington State Veterans Cemetery.
According to the Airway Heights Police Department, Phil Kowzan performed the 24-note melody for the 3,335th time on a sunny afternoon, ending a quarter-century of providing live bugle music at veterans’ funerals.
“I don’t get too emotional. I try to concentrate on playing the best taps I can,” Kowzan said. “I don’t want to mess up. It has to be perfect.”…