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	The Last U.S. Navy Bugler The Last United States Battleship Bugler Bertrand Raymond Trottier, Jr. QMB3 Ship's Bugler, U.S.S. New Jersey, BB-62 Olongapo Bay, Philippines Islands, 1968 ©2003 TriAd Grafixi

This site is dedicated to the crew of the Battleship U.S.S. New Jersey, BB-62
and her magnificent Captain J. Edward Snyder* with whom I proudly served as
Ship's Bugler during the Vietnam Conflict, 1968-'69.
*now retired Rear Admiral.

Member

U.S. American Legion
Robert Allen Romo Post 422

The contents of this website including photography, copy, etc. is the property of Bertrand R. Trottier, Jr. and is protected by U.S. and International Copyright.
No part may be used without written permission.

BuglerUSN.us is not intended for the general public.

BuglerUSN.us exist solely for a handful of crusty old sailors seeking out some pictures, stories and sounds that, hopefully, evoke a few pleasant memories during a difficult time in our nation's history. I, for one, experienced the emotional trip of a lifetime spending hundred of hours scanning photos, reconstructing newspaper clippings, creating logos and assembling it all together with some experienced graphic design and fledgling web design skills. No attempt has been made to make this a "polished" or commercial looking site. The emphasis has been placed on meaningful content in a simple and straight forward environment.

Please forgive any typos and other errors. I put this together as quickly as I could with the time and resources I had available. Some may consider this a 'sappy' site. Perhaps. But if nothing else, it's from my heart and is truthful. I sincerely hope this work comes close to meeting your expectations.

A Little Background

It may be valuable for you to know I was "raised" in a military academy as a young boy. I starting living there in the
second grade, began trumpet lessons, joined the military band, with transition to a private school and then to junior high school where I played "morning colors" and joined the marching band. I continued to play "colors" in high school and joined Army ROTC, the drill team and rifle team and became drill instructor for our school marching band. Subsequently I was made a "petty officer in command" in Navy boot camp and, to the relief of my fellow cadets, placed into the Drum and Bugle Corps. where again I was selected to play "colors." Upon graduation I was transferred to the US Navy School of Music only to fulfill my ultimate destiny, seemingly the whole purpose to my life, as a Bugler aboard the U.S.S. New Jersey, BB-62.

To further my paramilitary experience in college I was in competition marching bands which all in all enhanced my deep appreciation for the military. I am now editor for my American Legion Robert Allen Romo Post 422 newsletter in Rialto, California. I love the military as my father did. He was a "cannonier" before WWII. I, like my boy, am fascinated by the military's ancient roots going back thousands of years to Achaemenid (Persia, 580 BC) before the Roman and vast Chinese armies. I also admire the law and order as outlined in the UCMJ whose ancient text seems to be universal to every military command on earth. This I taught to my children who will, someday, be amongst our future leaders, My military experience also gave me resolve to create a site that was not so military orientated, a bit of a departure and a little bit more personal and not so serious.
There seem to be plenty of those.

Hence this site will emphasis my personal experience living in the U.S. Navy aboard ship and ashore. Nearly everyone I knew in the service were optimistic, full of life, clearly understanding his obligation and responsibilities to his crew mates, his command, to himself and of course his country.

As difficult as duties and times were aboard ship, nearly everyone enjoyed and thrived with life with their own personal goal for the future with admiration for those shipmates around them and appreciation for what they all achieved.

This web site will be an ongoing effort. I'll be adding, and perhaps subtracting, to its contents as time goes on.
To help maintain the accuracy of this site, your positive comments, constructive criticism and especially corrections and additions will be very much appreciated.

One Last Note

It is my sincere hope and prayer that our current conflict in the Middle East ends as quickly as possible with the advancement of lasting peace the United States has spearheaded around the world since the presidency of Ronald Reagan. We are now in the early stages of a massive war against international terrorism. Sadly, it will not end soon.

No nation in the history of mankind has ever done so much good for so many as the United States of America. There is not a nation on earth that has not been touched by the generosity of the people of this great nation and there is no reason to apologize for America, as some of our so-called leaders have been asserting lately. We live in a strange age where we have a presidential candidate endorsed by the Communist Party, the very ideology our men fought and died to defeat in Vietnam.

Our American goals and ideals have always been honorable, unselfish and fair as has been the men and women who fought and died for America in the name of liberty and justice for all. You and I are truly blessed to have been a part of this great American epic of justice, generosity and sacrifice. I can never say "Thank You" enough.

God Bless all of you who have touched my life thus giving me purpose to live with good values, good friendships with fond memories, and lasting hope for the future for our families and our magnificent country.

Acknowledgments

The Bugler Logo
The 'Bert the Bugler' cartoon character (black and white drawing) was hand-drawn by Tom Marquez. Tom was my Studio Manager and Senior Designer at TriAd Advertising Design for many years. He drew the little fella in 1988 at our 'D' and 16th Street studios in San Bernardino using pen and ink on vellum. It was designed for use on my new ham radio QSL card, a post card used to confirm Amateur Radio contacts. I scanned the image from the vellum using Adobe Photoshop just for this web site.

The whole logo including the Tom Marquez drawing and background graphics consisting of the colorful word "Bugler", triangle, circle and rectangles was designed by yours truly (Bertrand Trottier). Designing logos is what I do best. It was a challenge adapting Tom's comical character of 'Bert the Bugler' into anything other than something humorous. It's a great drawing and I wanted so much to share it on this web site. I tried all kinds of motifs and arrangements to make the design more serious but nothing worked. So I was forced to concede that the logo for my web site was going to be some kind of fun design. This is important, as I tell my clients that the motif of the logo dictates the style of the company materials and projected corporate image (for example McDonald's fun arches vs the IBM stoic and simple block letters ).

I used a contemporary version of design elements from the 1960's, an era I grew up in. I wanted to make it colorful, complimenting Tom's start black and white cartoon image.

The Photographs
The photos are all mine except as noted. A few researched photos are included (which should be obvious) to help explain my story. A great deal of the color photos were made with my Canon FT-QL camera purchased at the Base Exchange in Subic Bay, Philippines with the help of famed photographer Neil Liefer.

Other photos, such as those from the School of Music were taken by friends to whom I'm very grateful. You don't realize at the time how valuable pictures like these are until many years later. I was never one to collect pictures of myself. There are many family pictures to which I don't have access to that would be more fulfilling than the few I have included on this site.

Technical, Historical Information And Graphics
All the designs, logos and other graphics were generated by yours truly. Logos and graphic illustrations were created in CorelDraw and assembled in Macromedia Fireworks. The Flash movie at the beginning of this site was created in Macromedia Flash. The whole assemblage was completed in Macromedia Dreamweaver where text, photos and other objects were put in place. A few photos were gathered from other sources, which should be obvious. All material of a technical or historical nature was well researched and authenticated. Those who know me know what I stickler I am about authenticity.