Playing taps at military funerals

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- Soldiers don't need to be bugle virtuosos to play taps anymore. <br><br>Thanks to a digital development recently approved by the Department of Defense, soldiers can now pretend

Monday, October 20th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- Soldiers don't need to be bugle virtuosos to play taps anymore.

Thanks to a digital development recently approved by the Department of Defense, soldiers can now pretend to play taps.

A cone-shaped device called a ceremonial bugle fits snugly in the horn of a real bugle.

The device runs on two nine-volt batteries and is started with the push of a button.

Defense Department senior policy adviser Mark Ward says the department's 500 buglers just couldn't keep up with the 1,800 veterans who die each day.

He says a faking bugler is a more dignified alternative to a CD in the absence of a live player.

Some who actually play the bugle say the device doesn't compare to the real thing.