Colonel Truman W. "Tru" Crawford (USMC) (April 1, 1934 – March 3, 2003) was a music arranger, composer, and conductor for drum and bugle corps. He was the long-time commander and director of "The Commandant's Own," the

United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps The United States Marine Drum & Bugle Corps is the drum and bugle corps of the United States Marine Corps. The D&B is now the only full-time active duty drum corps in the United States Armed Forces. As one of many United States military bands, the ...

after having previously served as musical director of the United States Air Force Drum and Bugle Corps.Drum Corps World In memoriam — Col. Truman W. Crawford
/ref>

Biography

A native of

Endicott, New York Endicott is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 13,392 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village is named after Henry B. Endicott, a founding member of the En ...

, Truman Crawford performed in a local

fife and drum corps A Fife and drum corps is a musical ensemble consisting of fifes and drums. In the United States of America, fife and drum corps specializing in colonial period impressions using fifes, rope tension snare drums, and (sometimes) rope tension bas ...

from the age of eight. He saw his first drum and bugle corps, the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

Drum and Bugle Corps of

Bolling Air Force Base Bolling Air Force Base or Bolling AFB was a United States Air Force base in Washington, D.C. In 2010, it was merged with Naval Support Facility Anacostia to form Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling. From its beginning, the installation has hosted elem ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

while in high school. After graduating high school in 1953, Crawford auditioned for the Air Force corps and was accepted as a baritone bugler.Truman W. Crawford, Colonel, United States Marine Corps
/ref> He gained rapid promotion, becoming the unit's senior

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

and musical director. As

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...

had done with the Army Air Force Band during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Crawford transformed the unit from a staid,

martial music Martial music or military music is a specific genre of music intended for use in military settings performed by professional soldiers called field musicians. Much of the military music has been composed to announce military events as with b ...

unit into a swinging, contemporary musical ensemble before the corps was disbanded in 1963.Col. Truman W. Crawford
Leaving the Air Force after the drum corps' demise, Crawford moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where he went to work in a music store. He continued to write arrangements for drum corps, many of which he had begun his involvement with while in the Air Force. He worked especially closely with the Chicago Royal Airs Drum and Bugle Corps, which in 1965, playing Crawford's arrangements, became the only drum corps to win the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

Veterans of Foreign Wars The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an organization of US war veterans, who, as military service members fought in wars, campaigns, and expeditions on foreign land, waters, or a ...

, and

Catholic Youth Organization Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) is an international Catholic youth movement founded by Bishop Bernard Sheil in Chicago in 1930. It would become a major factor in the development of race relations in the US Catholic Church following World War ...

National Championships in the same season. By 1967, Crawford was credited with writing arrangements performed by a great majority of the senior and junior drum and bugle corps in the United States, Canada, and Europe.A History of Drum & Bugle Corps, Vol. 2; Steve Vickers, ed.; Drum Corps World, pub.; 2003 Due to his reputation and popularity in the drum corps world, in 1966, Crawford was asked to join the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps as chief musical arranger. Reentering the service as an enlisted man, he was later commissioned as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

and became commander of the drum corps. During his thirty-year career in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

, Crawford rose to the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

and was decorated with the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

, the

Navy Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

, and the

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: *Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Med ...

among other honors. As he had done with the Air Force corps, Crawford made the Marine Corps corps into a smoothly swinging contemporary musical group. The Commandant's Own, under his direction, performed at the historic 1978 Camp David meeting of Egyptian President

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...

and Israeli Prime Minister

Menachim Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. B ...

, causing Begin to comment, "What a marvelous art form." At the time of his retirement in 1996, Col. Crawford was the oldest Marine on

active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, the equivalent term is active service. India The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be one ...

. During his early years in the Marines, Crawford was also the drum major and musical director for the Yankee Rebels Senior Drum and Bugle Corps from

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. This corps won the American Legion Senior National Championship in 1969, 1970, and 1971. When the Royal Airs was resurrected as an alumni corps in 2002, he returned to that corps as musical arranger and sometime conductor. Crawford was diagnosed with

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

(ALS) (Lou Gehrig's disease) in 2002 and died at a hospital in

Hershey, Pennsylvania Hershey is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to The Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey. The community is lo ...

from the effects of that disease on March 3, 2003. He was interred at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

, and was survived by his wife of forty-nine years, Lucille Ellis Crawford, five children, eight grandchildren, and four siblings.

Honors

Truman Crawford was honored with membership in the

Drum Corps International Drum Corps International (DCI) is a governing body for junior drum and bugle corps responsible for developing and enforcing rules of competition, and for providing standardized adjudication at sanctioned drum and bugle corps competitions througho ...

Hall of Fame, the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame, the

Bands of America Bands of America (BOA) is a music education advocacy organization and promoter of high school marching band competitions in the United States, such as the annual Grand National Championships. Established in 1975 as Marching Bands of America (MBA), ...

Hall of Fame, and the Maryland Drum and Bugle Corps Hall of Fame. Crawford was a member of

Kappa Kappa Psi Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity (, colloquially referred to as KKPsi), is a fraternity for college and university band members in the United States. It was founded on November 27, 1919, on Thanksgiving Day, at Oklahoma Agricul ...

, the National Honorary Band Fraternity and was awarded that organization's 1979-81

Distinguished Service to Music Medal The Distinguished Service to Music Medal is an award presented by Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity. It is awarded to people who have contributed to the advancement of the wind band "as a cultural, musical and educational medium. ...

for marching band. On September 14, 2009, the new headquarters of the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps at the Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C. was dedicated as Colonel Truman W. Crawford Hall.Colonel Truman W. Crawford Hall dedicated at Marine Barracks Washington > Marine Barracks > News Article Display
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Truman 1934 births 2003 deaths People from Endicott, New York American male composers American male conductors (music) American music arrangers United States military musicians United States Marine Corps officers United States Air Force airmen Recipients of the Legion of Merit Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Distinguished Service to Music Medal recipients 20th-century American composers 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians