Honoring his country one note at a time

Master Sgt. John Abbraciamento started playing the trumpet while he was a fourth grader at William L. Buck School in Valley Stream. There, he played in front of friends, family and members of the community. Now, Abbraciamento is accustomed to playing in front of U.S. presidents, esteemed politicians and war heroes.

Abbraciamento has been a member of the Marine Band since 1992 and currently lives in Falls Church, Va., not far from Washington D.C., with his wife and two children. The Marine Band, also known as The President’s Own, is America’s oldest professional musical organization, dating back to 1798. The President’s Own has performed at every presidential inauguration since Thomas Jefferson took office in 1801.

It wasn’t until his senior year at Valley Stream South High School, from which he graduated in 1978, when Abbraciamento realized he could make a career out of playing the trumpet.

“I don’t think I had more talent than anybody else,” he said, “I don’t think that at all in fact. I just think that my dad taught me early on that whatever it is that you want, whether it be academic, music or sports, you have to work at it. I learned early on that the value of what you put in is what you’re going to get out.”

His father, who was a World War II veteran and who died in 2008, played the trumpet and would help Abbraciamento learn the instrument. He can remember marching in Valley Stream’s Memorial Day Parade as an elementary school student and said that he hasn’t gotten the chance to visit his hometown as much as he’d like in recent years. Abbraciamento is the youngest of four children; his three older sisters still live on Long Island and his sister, Lynne Sollin, is now a teacher at the Buck school.

Abbraciamento has played at the White House hundreds of times and performed in front of the last four presidents. But the biggest honor, he said, was playing taps. In 2004, when the World War II Memorial was dedicated in Washington D.C., Abbraciamento was selected to play taps at the ceremony. He said it had special meaning to him because his father and three of his uncles served during the war.