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View Full Version : Playing 'Taps,' hosting Web site help Vietnam vet, others to heal



dearmaxie
07-10-06, 12:59 PM
http://images.zwire.com/local/Z/ZWIRE1425/zwire/images/2006/07/2006/07/story/20060707_105206_2_story.jpgOn Monday at the ‘Healing Field’ flag display in downtown Merriam, Kan., Gary Canant played ‘Taps’ in honor of fallen soldiers.
More often than he would like, Gary Canant puts on a Marine uniform and plays "Taps" at funerals, memorial services and special events.
Canant, a Vietnam vet, began volunteering for these occasions in 2003. He said every soldier deserves a live rendition of the tune.
War thoughts have followed Canant since his return from Vietnam more than 35 years ago, particularly during the Gulf War in 1991 and when son Kevin went to Iraq in 2003.
Canant said an obituary about a young soldier who died in Iraq stirred him to don a uniform and pay respects with his bugle.
"I called the funeral home and they directed me to the Marine unit (in Wichita)," Canant said.
Today he is a Bugles Across America member.
"The main reason we exist is to provide bugles for funerals," he said. "You've heard about the fake horn they use. That drives us crazy. It's disgraceful."
Canant said the Department of Defense condones the use of pre-recorded funeral music.
"I think that's very bad. There are enough horn players around that would volunteer to play 'Taps.' And I've heard some horror stories about the taped music," said Canant, a Jewish War Veterans and Vietnam Veterans of America member.
Veterans' organizations and funeral homes call him often and directly. Canant said some vets who were near death asked him to play at their own funerals. He no longer tracks how many times he plays "Taps." He plays at a funeral about every other week.
"In the beginning I used to be very conscientious about counting the times I've played, but I've gotten to where I don't do that. I play when I play," he said. "It's not about the numbers, it's about somebody else."
If Canant plays at a weekday event, he takes time off from his job with New York Life Insurance Co. His company supports his efforts.
Canant pays his own travel expenses and for attire - informal and dress military uniforms.
Canant said he is making up now for not having being able to play "Taps" for buddies when he served in Vietnam.
"I still missed playing or hearing 'Taps' for those guys we lost in Vietnam, but playing 'Taps' now seems to be a way to honor those we lost then by honoring those we are losing now," Canant wrote on his Web site, www.DearMaxie.com (http://www.DearMaxie.com).



http://oascentral.zwire.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_nx.ads/www.poweronemedia.com/300X250.html/@Topx (http://http://oascentral.zwire.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_nx.ads/www.poweronemedia.com/300X250.html/@Topx) DearMaxie.com

Canant, who turns 62 today, served in Vietnam at age 25. He left his bride, Maxie, just 18 days after their wedding.
"Neither one of us remember him leaving," Maxie said. "It was just too traumatic."
Gary went to Vietnam in 1968, served his tour and returned to a country that called Vietnam vets "baby killers and other ugly things."
Gary tried to forget. He had a good job and blended outwardly with friends and neighbors, but the Gulf War stirred the post-traumatic stress disorder within him.
"The PTSD really hit me hard during that period," Gary said.
The feelings spurred Gary to write the first version of his book, "Dear Maxie: Letters from Viet Nam," in 1995. The book is a compilation of the letters he wrote to Maxie, who saved them in a shoebox.
"I saved everything, including a packet of coffee he sent me from his C-rations. He wanted me to experience things that he experienced," Maxie said. "We were going to share that packet together, and that's when he looked at the letters."
Gary did not publish the book at first because he had a bad experience with an agent. He said what his son, Kevin, had to do in the Gulf War II triggered the decision to launch the Web site www.dearmaxie.com (http://www.dearmaxie.com).
Kevin, a member of the California National Guard on active duty near Sacramento, had to tell somebody "their son had been killed."
Gary performed a similar task in Vietnam, writing letters to families of deceased Marines.
In May, Gary established DearMaxie.com, a Web site containing the letters. He posts a new letter daily.
"I've been posting almost two months and I've posted about 60. I have probably another 150 letters, but I'll probably post only another month or two," Gary said.

'What war is all about'

Gary, whose other son, Kalman, is an Orthodox rabbi in Brooklyn, N.Y., said most people today do not know what war is like.
"I figured that maybe this would help people understand what war is all about. Not just from the people who were in it, but the people back home," he said. "My feeling about the Iraq war right now is that people have divorced themselves from it. I would hope this would help in some sort of way."
Gary said the response to dearmaxie.com has been positive.
"There are some people who follow it almost every day. One of the most interesting ones I've heard from is a vet in Australia who hadn't talked about the war probably ever. He just unloaded in a couple of e-mails he sent me. I think it did a world of good for him to be able to do that," he said.
Playing bugle and creating "Dear Maxie" have put Gary Canant in a happier place, he said.
"It's defused the anger. It was there before; I just didn't know why," he said. "Vietnam vets don't normally talk about it very much at all. A lot of them have been carrying this around for a very long time. We were different than others, like World War II (vets). They had something that was a little bit glorious. We didn't."
From his son, Gary has learned that many Iraq and Vietnam vets had similar experiences.
"My son is somewhat lucky because he will talk to me, but he won't talk to anyone else about it," Canant said. "The ones I feel sorry for are the ones who've made two or three tours. I think there may be some really difficult cases (of PTSD) that will show up years later."

marinegreen
07-10-06, 04:22 PM
To this day hearing Taps puts tears in my eyes.What a "FINE GENTLEMAN" Mr. Canant is. Semper Fi Marine,you make all us Marines P-R-O-U-D !!

booksbenji
07-11-06, 09:27 PM
:thumbup:



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