“Taps” has become perhaps the most well-known piece of music performed on a bugle. The somber 24 notes are played at military funerals, wreath-laying ceremonies and memorials to fallen veterans.

The roots of the piece can be traced back to the American Civil War, just like the precursor to Memorial Day known as Decoration Day.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, “To ensure the sacrifices of America’s fallen heroes are never forgotten, in December 2000, the U.S. Congress passed and the president signed into law ‘The National Moment of Remembrance Act,’ P.L. 106-579, creating the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance.”

The goal of the act is to encourage Americans to pause wherever they may be at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence in honor of those who have died in service to the United States.

While Memorial Day has become another holiday for holding cookouts akin to Independence Day for a swath of Americans, many memorials are held across the country on the last Monday of May to honor the nation’s fallen veterans.

COVID-19 wiped out the majority of Memorial Day ceremonies in 2020, which some would say is par for the course for events this year.

However, the pandemic would not stop a group of people determined to still honor fallen veterans in some capacity on Memorial Day.

A movement called Taps Across America was born from several like-minded individuals who wanted to play a small part in honoring the fallen.

Taps Across America tasked buglers around the country to play “Taps” at 3 p.m. on Memorial Day from wherever they could, be it their homes or the local courthouse steps.

One such bugler was Davin Kyle, the band director at West Limestone High School.

While not a veteran himself, Kyle said he has been playing “Taps” at different ceremonies since he was around the age of 16.

“I teach band, and I’m a musician, but the two most important pieces I play are ‘Taps’ and ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’” he said.

Kyle was part of the movement’s Facebook group with around 400 others, but he said when a TV special on the project aired, the number of buglers surged.

“There was a special on (Taps Across America) on CBS Saturday and Sunday morning, and today there are over 4,000 buglers across the country that are playing at 3 p.m.”

Kyle said he felt “very honored” to be among those who played the piece as part of the memorial movement.

“It’s the very absolute least we can do,” he said. “These are people that have given their all for our country, and it’s the minimum we can do to honor them.”