Peggy Dover

On Sept. 2, 1945, an armada of 1,200 fighters and bombers from three branches of the U.S. military soared above the Battleship Missouri, known as “Mighty Mo,” while Japan made its WWII surrender official on her quarterdeck. My Uncle Larry (Dick) Dover was part of that force as co-pilot in a B-29. There is an aerial photograph taken from his cockpit, which is too dark to reproduce well, unfortunately.

This memory resurfaced recently when visiting with Eagle Point High School band teacher Ryan Murakami, who came to Eagle Point three years ago fresh from the Marine Corps. He is a native of Oahu, Hawaii, home of the memorial, and played saxophone in the Marine band while stationed there. Now, with a little help from his former connections and a lot of determination, he and his 45 or so band students, along with various and sundry chaperones, have received an invitation to perform in the Pearl Harbor Memorial parade Dec. 7.

“The students will be flying out for about a week,” Ryan explained. “They’ll get to see the island, but they’re also getting to perform with the Marine band that’s stationed in Hawaii. They’ll get to perform off of the USS Missouri, which will be a mass band playing “God Bless America” and other patriotic songs. They’re going to do a parade through Waikiki, and will perform elsewhere.”

A tour of the USS Arizona Memorial is on the list, as well as a clinic for the band, where they’ll receive tips for honing their performances straight from the Marine band on base.

Ryan says the kids are super excited, of course, and they’ve worked hard to fundraise and elicit help from local businesses for airfare, which is pretty much covered. There have been five car washes, a chili feed, can and bottle drives, and chocolate sales come next (put me down). It all adds up. About 60 vendors have come on board to help make things happen. But time is growing short, and there are additional expenses like food, lodging and other necessities, aside from souvenirs and extras, which amount to about $1,500 per band member. Some students have struggled to raise the necessary funds.

Should you feel inclined to help with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, checks can be made out to the Eagle Point High School Band and dropped at the school office or mailed to EPHS, 203 N. Platt Ave., Eagle Point, OR 97524. Mention that it’s for the Hawaii band trip.

There are always additional needs beyond trip expenses. We want Eagle Point High School band to represent all of Southern Oregon in classy form. Ryan gave me one example of an unforeseen band need.

“I play saxophone, so sometimes I don’t get into the mix with the troops, but I was back there with the percussion, and I noticed their harnesses are held together with pool noodles. They don’t have the proper padding, so they went to Walmart and cut pool noodles and duct-taped them. We want the kids to represent the community well. We don’t want to be there repping Oregon and we look all ratty.”

There is to be a “Road to Hawaii” send-off concert by the band at the Veterans Administration Rehabilitation Center in White City, where supporting vendors will be recognized and the band will show us their chops. It’s open to the public, so mark your calendar for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30. The band will perform in the new museum building, visible from Highway 62, which opens into a gymnasium large enough for 500 spectators.

I hope it’s filled to capacity as a show of community support for their hard-working teacher, the kids and their enthusiastic support system. See you there.