Just found this article, and thought today was a good day to share it. Thank You to ALL who are fighting to preserve the freedoms of Our Great Country!
http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/arti...1_Delber639754
Military men
Symphony founder combines salute to the armed forces, family
Delbert Inman, Army
By JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer
Published: 7/4/2010 2:22 AM
Last Modified: 7/4/2010 4:46 AM
Barry Epperley was exploring the area around his uncle's house in Coalgate when he discovered the helmet.
"We were staying with him while my father was working on his degree at OU," said Epperley. "I was in what my uncle Delbert called the well house, and I found this old helmet and liner on a shelf there.
"I brought it to show Uncle Delbert, and he just said, 'You put that back.' And it was in a tone that brooked no discussion. So I put it back."
Epperley would rediscover the helmet a few years later and would be told the same thing: "You put that back."
"It took a long time before he ever told me the story why," said Epperley, the founder and artistic director of the Signature Symphony at Tulsa Community College.
Delbert Inman is one of five brothers — Epperley's maternal uncles — each of whom served in a different branch of the U.S. military during World War II.
Delbert was in the Army. B.L. Inman was in the Navy, G.D. Inman was a Marine, Truman Inman served in the Army Air Corps, and Eural Inman was a member of the SeaBees.
During his tour of duty on the island now known as Papua New Guinea, Delbert Inman and some of his fellow soldiers became separated from their company.
"At one point, he was confronted by a Japanese soldier," Epperley said. "It was a him-or-me moment, and Uncle Delbert was the one who walked away. But he had something of a breakdown because of that experience."
Each Memorial Day, Epperley's extended family gathers for a reunion, and at the most recent one, Delbert Inman spoke of his experiences.
"He talked about the moment when they finally caught sight of an American flag, and he said that was the sweetest sight he had ever seen," Epperley said. "He looked at us and said, 'You kids —' and he included me in those 'kids,' — 'you remember that about the flag. Because it's important.' "
Military service has been a tradition in Epperley's family, going back to the Civil War. Epperley himself spent six years in active service in the U.S. Army, as conductor of the U.S. Army Chamber Orchestra.
That is one reason why Epperley often programs a musical salute to the armed forces at Signature Symphony concerts — especially the orchestra's annual patriotic concerts held July 3. This year's concert, which was presented Saturday at the VanTrease PACE, combined the armed forces salute with a tribute to his own family's military service.
Images of Epperley's five uncles in their uniforms were projected on a screen during the concert, and three of the men — Delbert, Truman and G.D. Inman — were to be in the audience.
"I don't know why I never thought of it before now," Epperley said. "Of course I knew all my uncles had been in different branches of the service, but I didn't think to combine that with the concert until now."
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