CHESTERTOWN — It was an honor of a lifetime for Troy Stupart — a musician, teacher and retired soldier — to be able to play in the Pearl Harbor Day Memorial Parade in Hawaii on the 80^th anniversary of the attack that launched the United States into World War II.

This is Stupart’s first year as band director at Kent County Middle School, reinvigorating a program that dropped off due to the COVID pandemic.

The New Jersey native has traveled a lot, having previously served as a music director of a church in New York City and taught a variety of subjects including band and social studies in schools from Pennsylvania down to Georgia. Stupart also served in the U.S. Army for 20 years. He spent six years in active service and 14 years in the Reserves.

“We are privileged to be able to share with our students a passionate musician with a record of service to his country. Mr Stupart will doubtless rebuild our band into the excellent program we’ve come to expect,” said Dr. Mary Helen Spiri, principal of Kent County Middle School.

It was a hiring fair in Ocean City that landed Stupart at Kent County Middle School this fall. But it was the Cecil County-based Upper Chesapeake Community Band that took the tuba player to Pearl Harbor last week.

Most would view a trip to Hawaii as a vacation. But it was much more than that for Stupart.

“This was a chance to honor our Greatest Generation and those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” he said.

The band played three concerts as part of the Pearl Harbor Day ceremonies. The first was Sunday, Dec. 5 on the famed USS Missouri — the battleship where the Japanese surrendered World War II ended. The band performed twice on Pearl Harbor Day, Dec. 7, commemorating the day that will live in infamy.

For Stupart, the whole experience was humbling and left him in a state of awe. 

Upon his return home later that week, he spoke with reverence about it, especially the band’s performance on the deck of the USS Missouri. It moved him to be playing just 100 yards from the USS Arizona, the memorial built over the sunken battleship and the resting place of 900 sailors and marines on eternal guard there.

“Knowing that those people selflessly served their country to the best of their ability so that I would have a chance to serve 60 years later — it’s very touching and moving,” Stupart said.

Notable selections from the Upper Chesapeake Community Band’s performances included “America the Beautiful” by famed composer and conductor Carmen Dragon; “To Reap the Blessings of Freedom,” a medley of the five military branches’ service hymns by Douglas Wagner; and a particularly moving piece for Stupart, “Each Time You Tell Their Story” by Samuel R. Hazo.

Stupart played the Upper Chesapeake Community Band’s performance of Hazo’s piece for his class after returning from Hawaii. He told them how the music accompanies the poetry of Hazo’s father Dr. Samuel J. Hazo, poet laureate of Pennsylvania, and reaches back to those who served in World War II.

"No soldiers choose to die. It's what they risk being who and where they are. It's what they dare while saving someone else whose life means suddenly as much to them as theirs. Or more. To honor them, why speak of duty or the will of governments? Think first of love each time you tell their story. It gives their sacrifice a name and takes from war its glory," wrote the elder Dr. Hazo.

It was a concerted recruiting effort this fall that brought Kent County Middle School’s  band from single-digit membership to a roster of 80 students.

Stupart is appreciative for all those budding musicians who have chosen to take band with him.

“I love it here,” he said. “It’s definitely a chance to rebuild a program that was known for excellence. The students here are very receptive. They want to perform at that level of expectation and they know that it’s going to take hard work and time.”