Paradis Honors Veterans With Live Taps Renditions

 HARWICH – Mark Paradis played Taps to conclude the Memorial Day ceremony on Monday. One attendee approached him afterward to say he has heard Taps played many times, but his was the best ever.
 Paradis has played Taps many times over the years. He served as a military musician in the Marines for six years, having trained as a musician at the Marine School of Music in Norfolk, Virginia. With 1,000 veterans dying every day, there are not enough military bugle players to attend the funerals for all of the veterans, so audio recordings are sometimes used. Paradis and U.S. Air Force band bugler Jari Villananueva came together to form Taps for Veterans to provide live buglers at no cost to families of veterans wishing to have Taps played live at funerals.      
Paradis, executive director of Taps for Veterans, has played with the Harwich Town Band for several years and has lived in town full-time for the past six years. He keeps himself busy promoting Taps for Veterans.
This week he was on CBS television’s national news promoting the organization.  
“There is nothing more sacred and honorable than somebody standing there playing 24 notes from the heart,” Paradis told the news anchor.  
Taps for Veterans was started in 2012 and has grown dramatically. An estimated 1,500 buglers have joined the organization. Paradis said on Monday that the CBS news story enhanced recruitment. 
“You can’t pay for that kind of publicity,” Paradis said of the CBS news coverage.
“It’s all about our veterans. It doesn’t matter if you do one or 100 Taps. It matters that you answered the call,” he said.
Paradis said he was leaving on Tuesday to meet with the International Trumpet Guild in Rochester, N.Y. to discuss recruitment.
Taps for Veterans is funded by donations that cover the cost of its website, publicity and recruitment, he said, adding donations have been received from around the country.