Memorial melody

The only instrument to play the Marine Hymn at Sarasota’s 2009 Memorial Day parade was Melvin “Mel” and Beverly Shapiro’s cell phone.

The couple attended the parade together, waiting to hear a musical tribute to a few good men. They didn’t hear the Marine Hymn. They didn’t hear any music, for that matter. So Bev Shapiro called her son, Jeff, and asked him to call their cell phone, which had the Marine Hymn programmed as its ring tone. He called over and over throughout the parade, providing the Marine Hymn to the Shapiros and nearby parade-goers.

But the Shapiros were disappointed by the lack of music at the parade. So in April 2010, they wrote a letter to the editor of a Sarasota daily newspaper, suggesting that they could think of no better gift for their 58th wedding anniversary than to hear a local band — perhaps the Sarasota High School Mighty Sailor Band — play the Marine Hymn at the upcoming Memorial Day parade. Mel Shapiro ended the letter, writing:
“My old cell phone broke, and the new one doesn’t have the Marine Hymn in its repertoire. This might be a sad Memorial Day for this World War II Marine and his wife.”

….

Bev Shapiro doesn’t remember whether the Marine Hymn played at the 1950 Memorial Day parade, in Chelsea, Mass. She was a college senior who was tagging along with her friend, Rhoda, whose kid brother was performing in the parade. But what Shapiro does remember is the group of about 10 veterans standing on the sideline. One was a young Marine Corps veteran named Mel, who had served in World War II.

“From 1950 on, it was just Mel and me,” Shapiro said.

Two years after meeting at that Memorial Day parade, the couple married and later had three children. And they soon made Memorial Day parades an annual tradition. They attended the parade from 1956 to 1987 in Marblehead, Mass. Then, after they moved to Longboat Key, they attended the Sarasota parade every year beginning in 1988.

“The Memorial Day parade was a very important thing in our lives,” Shapiro said.

Although the Shapiros valued the parades, Mel Shapiro seldom spoke about his wartime experience. He left high school a month before graduation to enlist. He had served in Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Even decades later when he reflected on the war, he felt surprised that he survived. But after Tom Brokaw’s “The Greatest Generation” was published in 1998, he began to open up about his experience. For his 75th birthday, his children gave him a wardrobe of shirts and other clothing items with the Marine Corps logo, including a cap that became his signature item. He wore it everywhere, including the Sarasota Memorial Day parades.

But Memorial Day of 2010 brought a new gift to the Shapiros. After their letter was published, they got a call from Sarasota High School Band Director John Roseboom. He told them to watch the parade at Five Points Park. There, the band would play the Marine Hymn.

A band booster had shown the letter to Roseboom, who asked his student leaders if they wanted to learn the hymn — and they unanimously agreed that they did. In the past, the band hadn’t participated in the Memorial Day parade because of logistics. The parade usually falls at the end of the school year, after uniforms and equipment had been returned. But that year, the school had another week to go before summer break.

“The letter was kind of compelling,” Roseboom said. “It convinced me that we wanted to do it and (students), of course, were in complete agreement.”

….

On May 31, 2010, the Shapiros got their wish as they sat in Five Points Park.

“He was overwhelmed,” Shapiro said. “He was thrilled when he learned about how all the kids felt about us asking them to play.”

In a letter of thanks, the Shapiros wrote that the band performed the Marine Hymn more beautifully than they had ever heard.

“What we saw were high-school musicians the same age as Mel when he left one month before high-school graduation to join the Marines,” they wrote.

Roseboom agreed that the band gave a top-notch performance that day.

“They sounded amazing,” Roseboom said. “You can hear the difference in the band when they’re proud of something they play.”

Mel Shapiro, 85, died Nov. 7, 2010. In his memory, Shapiro asked for memorial contributions to the Mighty Sailor Band — and the donations poured in for the band.

But for the high-school band, Mel Shapiro’s memory continues to live on because of the tradition he inspired. The band will play not only the Marine Hymn, but also other service songs at future Memorial Day parades.

“The kids know that there’s something behind it,” Roseboom said. “It’s becoming part of our repertoire.”
Although the sheet music got lost shortly before the 2011 parade, making a performance impossible, Roseboom has already rewritten the arrangement in preparation for next year’s parade. The bottom of the score now reads:

“Dedicated to Mel Shapiro” — a tribute to one of a few good men.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].