VFW Post 696 TAPS
I’ve seen the stories circulating about VFW Post 696 playing TAPS during the most recent snowstorm, and I wanted to share my own perspective on the tradition and how it began.
As a veteran, the sound of TAPS immediately brings to mind funerals for fallen service members and veterans. At VFW Post 696, that solemn call has taken on a deeper, daily meaning.
Every night at 6:00 p.m., TAPS is played at the post located at 311 W. Veterans Blvd. in Owensboro. This powerful tradition began on February 11, 2017, a date that holds special significance for Matt Brenner, a retired Army veteran, and for anyone who has lost someone who served in the military.
On that day in 1991, Brenner lost a close friend during the Gulf War. Wanting to honor his friend’s memory, as well as all fallen service members in Owensboro and beyond, he brought the idea to the post. From that moment on, the tradition of playing TAPS every single evening was born.
Since that first night, the post has never missed a day, not once. Rain, sleet, snow, or bitter cold, the music still plays. As of today, that marks 3,272 consecutive days and counting.
VFW Post 696 Commander Joey Benningfield says, “The members of our post make sure it’s done no matter what the weather.” He adds, “It humbles me to know that we care that much about paying respect to our fallen.”
You don’t have to be a member of the post or even affiliated with the VFW to take part. Anyone is welcome to come down to the river and stand in quiet reflection during the ceremony.
That minute and thirty seconds spent honoring those who gave their lives for our country is one of the best, if not the best, traditions we have here in Owensboro.
Watch the video of Matt Brenner playing this past Saturday during the start of the snow storm in Owensboro.
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