{"id":19365,"date":"2018-11-05T13:16:02","date_gmt":"2018-11-05T20:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=19365"},"modified":"2023-04-20T14:15:16","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T20:15:16","slug":"a-94-year-old-ww-ii-veteran-and-his-81-year-old-sidekick-spread-music-and-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/a-94-year-old-ww-ii-veteran-and-his-81-year-old-sidekick-spread-music-and-joy\/","title":{"rendered":"A 94-year-old WWII veteran and his 81-year-old pianist spread music and joy"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

The sounds of singing and old-time piano tunes echo through the hospital atrium, warming up a cold November afternoon, just like the fireplace nearby.<\/p>\n

\"Two
Rex Winters, 81, plays the piano as his buddy, Virgil Hughes, 94, sings along. Both men are veterans, who volunteer regularly at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital. Photo by UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The singer is 94. The pianist is 81. And the onlookers, who join in to hear some tunes and sing along, range in age from their 20s to their 80s.<\/p>\n

Virgil Hughes is the 94-year-old. He\u2019s a veteran of World War II, who was a rifleman in the Army\u2019s 78th<\/sup> Infantry Division and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Virgil later became an engineer and specialized in disaster relief. He retired as a colonel after 43 years in the service. All his life, he has loved music and sharing it with others.<\/p>\n

His pianist, close friend and fellow music aficionado is Rex Winters, 81. Rex is also a veteran, who served during peacetime from 1959 to 1963. The Army trained him as an Arabic linguist and he worked for the National Security Agency. Winters learned to play the piano by ear as a boy and is studying music theory and classical music now. This new chapter comes after earlier careers as a tax lawyer, an electrical engineer and his years with the NSA.<\/p>\n

After meeting Virgil through music, Rex learned that his buddy\u2019s living situation in a retirement home wasn\u2019t going well. So Rex and his wife invited Virgil to move into a small mother-in-law apartment at their Wheat Ridge home. Rex also drives the duo to their many musical gigs now that Virgil is no longer comfortable behind the wheel.<\/p>\n

\u2018Everybody should have more music\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Once a week, the men come to UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital<\/a> where they volunteer almost every Friday afternoon. They play the piano and sing simply because they want to share some joy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sing to get other people to sing along,\u201d Virgil said. \u201cMany people are lacking in music. I\u2019m hooked on singing. Everybody should have a little more music in their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music brings people together. Strangers stop and listen and before long, they\u2019re tapping their toes, grinning and singing.<\/p>\n

On a recent Friday, a man waiting for a prescription watched with a beatific smile as the men in red volunteer vests played and sang to tunes like Let me call you sweetheart<\/em>, Just a Song at Twilight<\/em> and Darktown Strutters\u2019 Ball<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom was a flapper,\u201d Rex confided. \u201cShe taught me all these songs that were popular in the 20s.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Come and join the party\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Arlonzo Bryant, 54, wandered over.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on and join the party,\u201d Rex called out.<\/p>\n

\"Two
Virgil Hughes sings with Arlonzo Bryant, who said he loves singing and enjoyed a break from dealing with an illness. Photo by UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing and relaxing and comforting,\u201d said Bryant as he stepped up to the baby grand piano.<\/p>\n

Bryant is also a veteran. He served for more than 20 years in the Air Force and used to jump out of helicopters, he said.<\/p>\n

Recently, he\u2019s been dealing with an illness that has robbed him of his energy and has caused him to shrink from 220 to 150 pounds. The music gave him a break during a visit to the hospital to pick up medication.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I was coming up, walking through the hallways, I heard them singing songs that I know,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cI grew up wanting to be a singer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love it. It\u2019s refreshing,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t like ever feeling weak. In the last year, my health has started to decline and we don\u2019t know what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Virgil gets a kick out of making people like Bryant happy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get to see the smiles,\u201d he said. \u201cRex is at a disadvantage because he\u2019s at the keyboard and has to keep playing. I get to do the smiling for both of us and the smiles are returned.\u201d<\/p>\n

From singing to the dulcimer and the hurdy-gurdy<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Virgil grew up in a Welsh family, where everyone sang and played instruments around the clock. He remembers getting into trouble back in first grade when he wouldn\u2019t stop singing all day at school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel sorry for my teacher,\u201d Virgil said.<\/p>\n

He was born in western Kansas to a family of builders, carpenters and tradesmen. When the dust bowl drove farmers out of Kansas, Virgil\u2019s family moved to Denver in 1938 to find work. At age 11, he started working as a carpenter\u2019s apprentice for his grandfather, then joined the Army at age 18 in 1942.<\/p>\n

These days Virgil plays the tuba, drums, saxophone, dulcimer and an unusual instrument called a hurdy-gurdy. He used to build and sell dulcimer kits and collects and repairs old instruments.<\/p>\n

After performing, Virgil and Rex head to the hospital cafeteria, where they regale some 20-somethings with stories.<\/p>\n

Martin Moe, 28, is a volunteer in the University of Colorado Hospital Emergency Department<\/a>. He had heard from the volunteer coordinator about Virgil and Rex and wanted to meet them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thought that these older gentlemen are willing to come every week and give something back, I just loved the idea of it,\u201d said Moe, who brought two friends with him.<\/p>\n

They listened to the music, then to stories afterwards.<\/p>\n

\u2018We were drafted and we did our jobs\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Battle of the Bulge<\/a> marked a key turning point during WWII.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was Hitler\u2019s last attempt to break the will of the Allies. And Virgil was there,\u201d said Bill Gwaltney, 62, a friend who has been recording hours of interviews with Virgil for an oral history project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Battle of the Bulge ultimately made the downfall of the German Empire inevitable,\u201d Gwaltney said.<\/p>\n

He recently retired after a long career with the National Park Service<\/a> and a five-year stint in Europe with the American Battle Monuments Commission<\/a>, the federal agency that manages WWI and WWII cemeteries in Europe.<\/p>\n

Gwaltney said Virgil\u2019s stories are remarkable and his memories of key events remain crystal clear.<\/p>\n

Virgil often talks about how cold the German winters were. He remembers one time when a new American officer arrived and asked Virgil and his men how they were doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cSir, we\u2019re cold,\u201d Virgil said. And the officer took his personal wool blanket, cut it into strips and gave the men scarves.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe never has forgotten that act of caring,\u201d Gwaltney said. \u201cHe remembers these stories like they were yesterday. He knows exactly when and where they were and he remembers jingles from the 1930s and can sing them. It\u2019s like having a personal time machine.\u201d<\/p>\n

As they did their oral history interviews, Gwaltney learned that Virgil never had seen the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C.<\/a> He tried to arrange an honor flight trip for Virgil, but it wasn\u2019t working out. So, knowing time was of the essence, Gwaltney and his wife saved their own money and took Virgil to the nation\u2019s capital in May. The visit to the WWII monument was a highlight.<\/p>\n

\"A
Virgil Hughes, 94, was mobbed by admirers when he visited the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C. over the summer. Photo courtesy of Bill Gwaltney.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt didn\u2019t take long for people to mob him. They get to meet veterans, but not many WW II vets. They asked a lot of questions and some of them cried,\u201d Gwaltney said.<\/p>\n

Virgil downplays his heroism. When people praise him and fellow WWII vets as \u201cthe greatest generation,\u201d he gets a little uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes people try to make it extra special,\u201d Virgil said of his service. \u201cIt really wasn\u2019t out of patriotism. We were drafted and we did our jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, said Gwaltney, \u201cWe\u2019re sure glad they were there to do their jobs. We asked them to do a difficult job and they did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Virgil loved seeing the memorial. He didn\u2019t expect it to be so special.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it would just be another memorial, but I was pleasantly impressed,\u201d Virgil said. \u201cIt is a big deal. It really did impress me.\u201d<\/p>\n

WWII memories: both lighter moments and nightmares<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of Virgil\u2019s most bizarre stories came from the winter of 1943. He and fellow soldiers were on an overnight patrol when they found a German encampment. The Germans used to set up tents in a circle and put a pot of stew on the fire in the middle. Virgil and his buddies snuck up to the pot after the soldiers had gone to sleep and dumped a powerful laxative called calomel into the stew.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were out of business for three days,\u201d Rex said with a grin.<\/p>\n

\"94-year-old
Virgil Hughes had never seen the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C. until this summer when a friend took him. Hughes fought in the pivotal Battle of the Bulge and served a total of 43 years in the military.. Photo courtesy of Bill Gwaltney.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Virgil avoided combat during most of the war. But he did experience some trauma that has haunted him ever since.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was leading a little patrol in a village in Aachen, Germany. I sent one of my men to the other side of the road and he got killed,\u201d Virgil said.<\/p>\n

It was pure chance that Virgil picked one side of the street to patrol and sent his fellow soldier to the other. Nonetheless, he has never been able to get the young man\u2019s death out of his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re on a mission. You can\u2019t stop. That was the start of my post-traumatic-stress syndrome. It\u2019s bothered me all these years,\u201d Virgil said.<\/p>\n

He has coped with terrible nightmares for decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t know what to do about it. Medically, we were in the dark ages,\u201d Virgil said.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s gotten some relief through newer treatments in recent years.<\/p>\n

Perfect harmony<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Perhaps singing and bringing joy to others have helped too.<\/p>\n

A friend who met Virgil through a brass band 20 years ago sometimes comes to hear Virgil and Rex at the hospital. She said he\u2019s always giving to others.<\/p>\n

\u201cVirgil is always looking for a way to contribute and creating music is one of the ways he does that,\u201d said the friend, Margaret Devere.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic is good for the mind and good for the spirit. Listening to it is great. Playing is even better. And playing in a group is a transcendent experience,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Both Virgil and Rex nodded in agreement.<\/p>\n

In particular, Virgil loves harmonizing with others.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re hooked together when you\u2019re singing in harmony, like in a barbershop quartet,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cIf everything is just right, it\u2019s a real kick.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sounds of singing and old-time piano tunes echo through the hospital atrium, warming up a cold November afternoon, just like the fireplace nearby. The singer is 94. The pianist is 81. And the onlookers, who join in to hear some tunes and sing along, range in age from their 20s to their 80s. Virgil […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2123,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1497,171],"class_list":["post-19365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-uchealth-university-of-colorado-hospital","tag-volunteer-services"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA 94-year-old WWII veteran & 81-year-old pianist spread music and joy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A 94-year-old WW II veteran and his 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