1031 Nothing like a Sousa March

Makes me want to get out my trombone--this story I saw at Florida Cracker about the U.S. Military Band performing in Moscow.

"I've met every president. I've met hundreds of kings and queens. But marching through Moscow behind three of my soldiers carrying the American flag is pretty much the highlight of my career," said Lt. Col. Thomas H. Palmatier, commander of the Army band, which came here along with President Bush and other U.S. officials to help mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. LA Times Story.

"We played inside the Kremlin walls! We played 'The Stars and Stripes Forever' on the streets of Moscow! It was a pretty emotional experience," Palmatier said."

Victory Day, the war being called in Russia the Second Great Patriotic War, is sort of tricky to celebrate. Viewpoint of the Moscow Times.