78th Army Band Spreads Holiday Cheer

Members of the 78th Army Band were on hand to help spread some holiday cheer in support of various Veteran’s organizations this season. This year’s tour took the 78th Army Band to Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, performing at several VA Homes and a shelter for homeless veterans. This year’s “caroling” music performance team was once again led by SGT Tyrone Tedrick who has organized these missions since the beginning.

“It started back when many of us were with the 307th Army Band,” said SGT Tedrick. “The brass quintet was asked to do a Memorial Day performance at the Coatesville, PA Veterans Home, which was close to the old Reserve center in Norristown. From there we agreed to come back and do some Christmas carols and it has just grown from there each year.”

Performing both stationary concerts in large gathering halls, as well as strolling down hallways and performing the carols for Veterans who could not leave their rooms, was an incredibly rewarding experience for the band members. “It's an honor to perform for the vets and I feel like we can never do enough to help and support them,” said SGT Tedrick. Another member of the team, SSG Nicholas Greeson said that he enjoys “…using the joy of music to give thanks and honor to those who wore the uniform before us during this holiday season.”

In the future, SGT Tedrick would like to continue to expand the tour and perform at some homes in the New Jersey and New York area in addition to those locations the band has previously performed. “I also would like to try to organize a trip to return to the VAs over the summer where we would perform more patriotic music for the vets,” said Tedrick.

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Photos from various caroling events can be found on the band’s Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/78thArmyBand