I hope you were lucky enough to have a teacher that you kept in contact with and who you respected and admired and were friends. I have had some like that, and want to share some thoughts and memories on one right now. The reason for the now is that he will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery today Februaury 19th. No, he didn't die from our war in Iraq; he had already been through a few of them by now. Time marches on, and some do pass and are buried there who do not fall from enemy action. This is about A.K. Ignacio. To those who knew him from Kemper Military School & College and from his time in the Army, he was "Chief"; to the civilians he was "Iggy." In his Life Story, they call him "Piccolo." Never in all my years of knowing him did I hear that, but the comment to me from others was that he did play that instrument and someone probably took poetic license. Chief would have probably just smiled.
The reason he was Chief, was that he held the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 4. It would take too long to try and explain that rank to those not familiar with military structure, so let me just say this; it is a rank higher than enlisted, and lower than commissioned officers. It is usually for those of a specialized nature; helicopter pilots, bandsmen.... and Chief was a consummate bandsman.
He was also a Pearl Harbor survivor, since he was also a Hawaiian and was there when it was bombed. He went through Korea and Viet Nam, putting over 20 years of service into the United States Army. After he retired from the Army, he became the bandmaster for Kemper Military School & College, in Boonville, Missouri for another 20 years. And that's where I encountered him.
There are stories, many, many stories about Chief. Memories, laughs and so much more that I could write so much and hopefully, no one would be bored. But I will try and keep the ones I am going to share with you brief as Chief would probably be embarrassed; not by the stories but by being in the spotlight.
When you were in the band, Chief was your boss, your father, your friend, everything. The reason was simple; Chief took care of his band. He did when he was in the Army and that translated to Kemper. I did more things with the band that I ever even thought was possible. A parade or road trip once a month was not uncommon. And that was in addition to our normal playing at every mess (three times a day), band practice in the afternoon during the week, and then a pass in review parade at school on Sunday. I remember marching in the American Royal parade, concerts at the Chase Park Plaza in St. Louis, Mizzou homecoming parade in Columbia; we were the 'voice' of Kemper. And we had Chief. To say you would do anything for him would be such a vast understatement. As I said, we went places because we were the band and we were good. Sounds like I am bragging? You're right. I can't talk just about Chief without mentioning some of the others who were in the band. These were young men and women from all over, who were some of the most professional musicians short of the United States military bands I have ever had the privilege of playing with. Their reasons for being at Kemper were their own, but their ability to play music was something else. Couple that with Chief's style and our band had a sound and dedication that was limitless. Example:
As I mentioned, we went all over to play; and not just in this state. We marched at the Cherry Blossom parade in Washington, DC, the Worlds Fair in Knoxville, TN, and we were the official band of the Dallas Grand Prix. But one parade that will always stand out is when we played a division review at Ft. Riley, KS.
A division is approximately 10,000 people with equipment. A division review is what most people think of as a parade around the post or a 'pass in review.' It is a way to show the soldiers and their equipment off. Everything looks good, the band plays, the soldiers march in rank and file and generally show off their shiny things. Their division band also plays. Now, since it takes a while for 10,000 people to march pass one point, the band will usually play at the beginning and then close to the end (this was the way it was in the 80s, so if its changed, forgive me). The First Division band, which I have heard on many occasions, along with ANY military band, are some of the best musicians and the best sounds I have ever heard, is also a large unit. They put out a fantastic sound. We were about a 25 piece band. But we had Chief. And we had trained, for almost anything. So when we were invited to play this review, we did. We played the whole review. Oh we went to drums in between the pieces we played, but we played. This again, is in no way unusual or disrespectful. It just showed that we were as professional as our regular Army counterparts. And had the sound. The one thing Chief always said, if you make a mistake make it loud. So we were never afraid not to play loud. Ok, that in itself is pretty good, but here's the kicker to this story. As we boarded the bus to head back to Kemper, we were told we going to have to play a parade upon our return. Come on now! We had just played a division review! We griped, we complained, we bitched! But Chief said we had to do it. Luckily we had about 4 hours til we got home. And when we got back, we played the parade. There is an old saying that complaining is a soldier's right. It is. But the mark of true professionals is how they handle things. So we bitched. Chief knew what we had gone through; we were tired, our chops were shot. So we did what we always did; we figured a way to do it. Our lead chairs would play some, the seconds would do this, we figured out how to do it, without sacrificing our sound or making Chief look bad. If Chief said it had to be done, it was.
This next one I heard when we honored him at our last reunion weekend. I am so glad we got the chance to really bestow the honors and love he has always known we have had for him. We all got the opportunity to stand up and tell a Chief story. This is from a full colonel who was a cadet at Kemper and from the islands. He said that when he was a new boy, Chief called to see him. He explained how things were and that his final remarks from that meeting was don't embarrass us. Now, fast forward about 20 years later. This cadet has long since graduated, got his commission and was a Army Colonel working at the Pentagon, when he gets a call from Chief.
This Colonel said, when he got the call, he immediately stood up went to attention. You may think that is some poetic license there, but I doubt it. Anyway, Chief was calling him as he was going to be in a Seniors Golf tournament in Virginia. Chief LOVED golf, period. All the time, this former cadet was saying "Yes Chief." And since he was close, he needed him...as a caddie. Without a hesitation, "Yes Chief."
He said, when he hung up the phone, how wondered how he was going to explain to his boss, a two-star general, that he needed time off to go and caddie for a retired CW4.
Chief was a Pearl Harbor survivor, a veteran of the Korean War, the Viet Nam war, 20 years in the US Army, going all over the world, 20 years at a military school going all over the US, a friend, a father, a grandfather, a surrogate father to many cadets, etc. etc. This was Chief A.K. Ignacio.
One last thing; after we would play before a crowd and were getting the applause, Chief would always make sure that the band got the recognition, but he also said with a smile, "Don't applause, throw money."
Chief what you gave us was worth so much more than mere money. Thank you doesn't even begin to cover it.
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