This article originally appeared in the pages of the Gettysburg Times, August of 2023. It was penned by Wendy Allen of the Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania, in the hopes of sharing the work the Fellowship does.

According to Garry Wills in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Lincoln at Gettysburg, The Words That Remade America, President Lincoln did not dash off his Gettysburg Address at the last minute for the November 19th Dedication of Soldiers’ National Cemetery. Instead, he thoroughly prepared for, and carefully wrote and rewrote, his 272-word remarks to honor the newly reinterred United States soldiers. The closing line in Wills’ prologue states, “Without Lincoln’s knowing it himself, all his prior literary, intellectual, and political labors had prepared him for the intellectual revolution contained in those fateful 272 words.”
This year’s talented musicians who volunteered to sound Taps in Gettysburg National Cemetery for One Hundred Nights of Taps, Gettysburg, 2023, always came fully prepared. Their devotion to their craft is exceptional. Without their knowing it themselves, all of their musical and intellectual labors prepared them for their magnificent sounding of Taps on this hallowed ground. Representing 17 states, the District of Columbia, and Belgium, we extend our sincere thanks to these many fine musicians:
Kaitlynn Gaff, MD; Jesse Mixson, MD; Gene Russell, Washington D.C.; Louis DiLeo, NY; Ron Ciasullo, PA; Ralph Brodt III, PA; Ian Monaghan, MD; Michael Harper; Steven Snyder, NY; Last Post Association Buglers, Raf Decombel and Jan Callemein, from Ypres, Belgium, Jari Villanueva, MD; David Bufalini, PA; John Montgomery, Ohio; Bill Seaman; Ryan Welch; Kevin Paul; Max Osborn and and Lucas Fleming, MD; Wes Snyder, PA; Shirley Ann Walker, OH; Kevin Czarnik, MI; Amy Gabriele, PA; Christopher Rice, AL; Zachary J. Gilbert, PA; Greg Murphy, NJ; Jamie Cope, PA; Air National Guard Band of the North East Trumpets; Peter Sharrock, NY; Andrew Bisnett, NY; Thomas Herman, MD; Jim McDevitt, PA; Kevin McCarty, PA; Cameron Sands, PA; Nathaniel Bauder, PA; Randall McGuire, TX; Vince Pettinelli, NJ; Albert Lilly, IN; Ken Bair II, PA; Dave Burkhart, PA; Tom Rudolph, PA; Damon Morris, PA; Mitchell Mummert, PA; Brian Poffenberger, PA; Benjamin McClelland, PA; Graham Bentley, OH; Ivan Frantz, PA; Judy Shelleberger, PA; Ryan Bowden, PA; Landon Rosekrans, MD; Neil King, WV; Ross Mitchell, Washington D.C.; Robert Bauerle, MD; Warren Prender, MD; Chris Therit, PA; Michael Krauss, New York; Jonathan Gifford, SC; Matthew Cruice; Robert Beaver, PA; David Apple, MD; Brooks Brady, PA; Erin Bannon, PA; Joshua Cooper, MD; Debra Skripkunis, PA; Stephen White, MA; Thomas Sneeringer, Washington D.C.; John Baker, PA; John Lupp, PA; Michael Wood, IN; Jeffrey Miller, NY; Nicholas Brown, MD; Albert Trapani, PA; Robert Hawke; George Boyd, PA; Doug Rudisill, PA, standing in for Jim Rogers, MD; Jim Shufelt, PA; Keith DeFontes, MD; Scott Clark, PA; USAF Colonel John R. Thomas,ME; David Beier, Alabama; Harold Collins; Harry Dillon; Russ Ebersole; Mark Young, PA, for Stephen Goshorn, SC; Rick Barnes, MD; Brenda Kehl, MO; Chris Myers, MD; Donald Roeder, PA; Matthew Mills, TN; Robert Roll, NY; Robert Slamp, AL; P. C. King, PA; Mike Kinkade, TX; Galen Gish, PA; Maryellen Dodd, OK; Robert Balmer, MI; Hank Hartman, AK.
The One Hundred Nights of Taps, Gettysburg, 2023 is sponsored by the Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania and Gettysburg National Military Park in partnership with Taps for Veterans, the Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guides, and Eisenhower National Historic Site.