WWI Bugler Fred Hummer Dies at 97

Fred Hummer, the Army bugler who played taps thousands of times to honor and mourn fellow veterans from the Great War and every conflict since, has died of natural causes. He was 97.

The snowy-haired Brooklyn native, who last performed on Veterans Day 1996 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, first took up his trademark bugle at age 17 when he joined the 22nd Infantry Drum and Bugle Corps during World War I.

A renowned raconteur, he was a beloved fixture both at American Legion Post 555 in Midway City, where he bugled at biweekly meetings, and at the Long Beach Veterans’ Hospital, where he serenaded patients and staff.

Other performances included last year’s Fourth of July parade in Huntington Beach and an appearance last March at Grauman’s Chinese Theater to mark the death of comedy icon George Burns. Hummer’s most stirring performance may have been playing taps in 1994 at the memorial service at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

Through it all, Hummer used the same brass horn, a 10-inch, army-issue bugle, pocked and weathered by 80 years of service. Hummer was believed to be the last surviving World War I bugler, and was a rare eight-decade member of the American Legion.

“When I was discharged, they said, ‘Gimme your side arms, but you can keep the bugle,’ ” the Fountain Valley resident told The Times last year.

Hummer is survived by two daughters, Joan Pfeiffer of Palm Desert and Barbara O’Brien of New Jersey, along with six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

A viewing and Rosary is scheduled for 7 p.m. March 17 at the Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Fountain Valley. The next day, the same church will host the funeral at 10 a.m., followed by the burial at the Good Shepherd Cemetery in Huntington Beach, which will feature the American Legion Honor Guard.