“Poland Is Not Yet Lost” is the title of the Polish national anthem — and today, this sad day that Poland’s president, his wife and dozens of Poland’s foremost civilian and military leaders died in an airplane crash in Russia that killed all 132 96 people on board, we grieve with the Polish people and pray that they are consoled in their grief, filled with faith in themselves and their future, and rich with great leaders who will come forward and brilliantly take up the posts of service that are now so suddenly and tragically vacant.

The Polish national anthem has been on my mind because I play bassoon in the Bel Air Community Band in Bel Air, Maryland, and on May 2 we will play a work by Patrick Burns entitled, “Anthem,” which is based on Poland’s national anthem. We commissioned it as a tribute to Raymond J. Dombrowski, who was the band director at Bel Air High School from 1953 to 1985 and my band director from 1967 to 1971 — I hope you will click that link to read what I wrote last year about Mr. D and the honors he received for his work on behalf of other U.S. military veterans and in the Polish-American community, which is strong and loved in Maryland because of the service of Casimir Pulaski during the American Revolution and for their devotion to the founding ideals of America.

Here is a video of one of the proudest moments in the life of Raymond J. Dombrowski, when he conducted the Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra of Harford County and the Choir of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, The Paderewski Festival Chorus and the St. Patrick’s Cathedral Choir in a performance of “Poland Is Not Yet Lost,” the Polish national anthem, and the “Star Spangled Banner,” America’s national anthem — which, I will remind you, also has a Maryland connection since it is based on the poem Francis Scott Key wrote after watching the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore:

Wikipedia has the lyrics and stories of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Poland Is Not Yet Lost” — both are inspiring and worth reading.

Hot Air has a tribute to the late president of Poland, Lech Kacynski, with an explanation of what his loss means for the United States.

Prof. William A. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection discusses the loss of Poland’s leaders and the Katyn massacre of 22,000 Polish officers by the Soviets during World War II — they were on their way to an event marking its anniversary.

Michelle Malkin, who is a woman of far more compassion and great-heartedness than she ever gets credit for, has prayers for Poland.

Gateway Pundit has a round-up of the news coverage of the crash, including photos.

The Anchoress, bless her, has a list of all the passengers on board the plane, and other useful links.

My pal, Jimmy Bise, at The Sundries Shack, explains how America has lost a great friend.

Update, 4/13/2010, Tues.: Tammy Bruce points out the crucial role the Polish people played when the fate of Western civilization hung in the balance:

The world owes a debt of gratitude to Poland. Not only have they always been a remarkable people, but in the Battle of Vienna in 1683 it was Poland’s King Sobieski who pushed back the marauding Islamic hoards who were besieging Vienna. The Polish success at Vienna stopped the Islamists who otherwise would have likely taken the whole of Europe, ending civilization as we know it.

Wikipedia has the list of the names of everyone on board the fatal flight.

I play the bassoon in the Bel Air Community Band and usually we play a concert for the Independence Day celebration just before the fireworks at Bel Air High School — which is the descendent of the school attended by John Wilkes Booth, since this is where he was born and raised. However, a new high school is almost finished and the Bel Air High School I attended is slated for demolition. So for the last couple of years, and this year, due to the construction, the fireworks have been moved to another location but we haven’t played because the alternate location has no room for us or our audience.

When the band plays before the fireworks, we always finish with John Phillip Sousa’s march, “Stars and Stripes Forever.” The most difficult thing about playing it for many of us, because it is such a beautiful and stirring march, and we love our country so, is not to burst into tears as we play. I do usually finish with tears running down my cheeks, and I see other band members wiping away tears, too, when we’ve finished playing.

Our country is under a well-planned, slow-motion attack from within the like of which we’ve never seen before and can hardly comprehend due to the scale of destruction bearing down on us. We are fighting for the life of America as a democratic republic empowered by capitalism. Please vow on this Independence Day to keep the faith and do the work necessary to restore our Congress and the presidency to people who will be true stewards of liberty, capitalism and the American Dream. This fight is too big now for anyone to be excused from service.

Washington at Valley Forge, painting by Edward P. Moran, Library of Congress.

Baron von Steuben training the troops of Gen. George Washington at Valley Forge, 1777. Painting by Augustus G. Heaton, U.S. Archives, 111-SC-83897.

It is Memorial Day and I do wish to honor all the members of our armed services, living and dead. But I am going to have to start insisting on having me all of that equality they talked about today that every other citizen has, and, frankly, practically every illegal alien, too.

I attend Memorial Day services because I play bassoon in the Bel Air Community Band, one of the largest and best community bands in the U.S. We play for the Memorial Day services held in Bel Air, Maryland, because we are patriotic. Many of our members have served in the armed forces, including our conductor, Scott Sharnetzka. Some are currently serving — Aberdeen Proving Ground is nearby.

In the past four years or so since I’ve played with the band on Memorial Day, the talks have been very moving — including a Marine sergeant who lost an arm and both legs in Viet Nam, and last year a father reading a letter from a fallen son. The Air Force National Guard general who spoke this year will be leaving for Afghanistan in a couple of months.

But thanks to Carrie Prejean touting as one of her credentials for speaking against marriage equality for lesbians and gays the fact — I assume she’s telling the truth — that one of her grandfathers fought in World War II in the Battle of the Bulge, I found myself listening to the speeches today about liberty and American values and getting angry. One of my ancestors — an I-don’t-know-how-many-greats-grandfather — spent the winter in the Revolutionary Army under Gen. George Washington at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania. (There was no battle with the British at Valley Forge, but it was a turning point of the Revolutionary War simply because enough of an army stayed with Washington to keep the war for independence going.) Grandma said he was so hungry that when he caught a frog and it got away before he could cook it, he cried. Why does the service of MY ancestor not count? Where is MY equality? Why is it legal to deny me marriage equality, a job, a home or the right to enjoy a public accommodation, such as a restaurant or store, for the BEING crime of being homosexual? Why does MY equality vary from state to state, even county to county or city to city?

One of the answers is that our military’s policy of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” goes a LONG way toward perpetuating inequality for lesbians and gays. It gives our inequality a rationale — we do not have equality because we haven’t paid for it with our service. Never mind that foreigners are allowed to serve in our military as THEIR path to FULL citizenship.

I don’t know my family’s military service history between the Revolutionary War and World War II. During World War II, I think both my mother’s brothers who were old enough were in the Army. I know Uncle Herbert was — I have photos of him in uniform. Both of my father’s brothers were in the military in World War II — his brother Donald was a Flying Tiger in China. (Yes, the same Flying Tigers as the John Wayne film.) His brother Paul was in the Army — oh, and I think Uncle Paul was gay. My parents met in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, separating uranium for the Manhattan Project. (My father is nuclear physicist Hubert P. Yockey.) My mother’s father and one of her sisters worked there, too.

So — why doesn’t MY family’s service count toward MY equality as a homosexual?

And — since we have a far-left Democrat in the White House who promised to end “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” AND Democratic majorities in both the House and the Senate, NOW really seems like the time for the legislation to remove this policy of inequality. It’s time for liberal gays and lesbians to give Obama a deadline for repealing “Don’t ask, don’t tell” because enough lesbian and gay pioneers like me have settled in Fiscal Conservative Land that they really do have a place to go now when Democrats don’t keep their promises.

Memorial Day seems like the right time to remember that fighting for equality is a virtue and that fighting for the right to serve in your nation’s military is patriotic and shows the willingness to pay the price of equality in full measure. It is time to repeal “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” It is time for homosexuals to have equality.

Update, 5/27: Becky, the lesbian libertarian at Just a Girl in Short Shorts Talking About Whatever, also has some worthwhile observations about “Don’t ask, don’t tell” and a pertinent video — plus, she has hot illustrations, while the closest I have ever come to heat here is a nude Bea Arthur portrait staid enough to be handing in the Tate Gallery.

Raymond J. Dombrowski, high school band director, before the August 2006 Bel Air High School Band Reunion Concert in his honor

On March 11, 2007, the Gold Medal of Polish Armed Forces was awarded to Commander Raymond J. Dombrowski (pictured above, left), Polish Legion of American Veterans - General Casimir Pulaski Post 209, by Brigadier General Kazimierz Sikorski (at right), Military Attaché at the Embassy of Poland. Dombrowski was recognized for fostering and growing fraternal relations between Poland and America by preserving and promoting their shared military traditions and history. (Click on photo for source of photo and caption.)

The Harford County Council honored Raymond and Esther Dombrowski by proclaiming them Harford Living Treasures on April 2, 2002. Esther is holding the Proclamation and Ray is next to her on the left. Photo by Leo Heppner.

Today, March 8, the Bel Air Community Band will play a concert to raise money for the Raymond J. Dombrowski Scholarship Fund at 3 pm at the C. Milton Wright High School in Bel Air, Maryland. Admission is free and donations will be accepted.

The Bel Air Community Band is one of the largest and best community bands in the U.S., thanks in no small part to Mr. Dombrowski, who was my high school band director. The BACB is filled with many of his former students and is directed by C. Scott Sharnetzka, who began his career as a music teacher at Bel Air High School in 1972 and credits the mentoring and support he received from Mr. Dombrowski as the foundation of his own successful career as a band director.

You might expect that a high school band director who taught from 1953 to 1985 would be a faded memory, but one of Mr. D’s former students is Phyllis Fowler, a woman possessed of amazing organizing powers and energy, to say nothing of her great intelligence and vast heart, who thought it would be a great idea to have a reunion of Bel Air High School band alumni in 2003 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Mr. D’s coming to teach band at Bel Air High School. I’m pretty sure she had this idea while she was still in high school.

Well, Phyllis applied her mad skillz starting in 2001 and in August 2003 about 100 of us gathered from over 20 states and played a concert at C. Milton Wright High School. It was a freakin’ blast! Phyllis organized a bassoon for me — it’s the most expensive instrument in a concert band and I’d sold my Puchner in college — and I managed to get some decent reeds and started playing again just three days before the concert. (The alumna who played principal first bassoon is a professional bassoonist and the principal second was a music teacher, so bassoon-wise, we were covered.)

The 2003 reunion was so much fun that we had another one in 2006. We were preparing for one in 2008 when Mr. Dombrowski’s pancreatic cancer recurred. He died on August 25, 2008, and is survived by his wife, Esther.

Mr. Dombrowski helped to plan today’s program and it includes three of his own compositions, the Bel Air Bobcat fight song, Hooray for Bobcats, the marching band drum cadence, and Wendellwood Drive, a rock-and-roll piece for concert band. The sound file for the drum cadence and Hooray for Bobcats is at the end of this post along with whatever I can find on YouTube for Meditations from Thaïs, which we will play today because Mr. D’s primary instrument was the violin and it was one of his favorites.

I wrote the following appreciation of Mr. Dombrowski on 9/1/08 and submitted it to National Public Radio, which rejected it and I’m going to say that was because it is well outside their word limit. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)

An appreciation of Raymond J. Dombrowski

Of all the subjects you take in high school, the only ones where you are likely to be working with the same teacher all four years are band and orchestra. Because you put your heart into playing a musical instrument maybe a little more than you might into calculating the area of a polygon, your band teacher can make you or break you more than any other. During my high school years of 1967 to 1971, I was one of the lucky ones. I played the bassoon and had Raymond J. Dombrowski for band. With affection, we called him Mr. D.

Born to Polish immigrant parents in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and raised in New Castle, Pennsylvania, Ray Dombrowski took to the violin and piano at age four and began to play the clarinet and saxophone in high school so he could play in dance bands to earn money. He graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1951, then enlisted in the Army where he played in the 2nd Army Band at Fort Meade, Maryland. He was honorably discharged as a sergeant in 1953 and landed the job of music teacher at Bel Air High School in Bel Air, Maryland.

Among Mr. Dombrowski’s fellow teachers was a young woman from a local family, the school librarian, Esther Everitt, whom he quickly recognized as the love of his life. They married in 1956. While Mr. D led the Bel Air Bobcats marching band, Mrs. D led what has come to be known as the band front. In the 1950s and 60s the band front was comprised of girls carrying the band’s banner and majorettes twirling batons, but by the 1970s band fronts expanded to include performers doing routines with flags and pompons, so between the two of them they were coordinating pre-game, half-time and parade performances of almost 200 teenagers.

Mrs. D retired in 1984. Mr. D retired in 1985 after leading the band, orchestra and jazz band at Bel Air High School for 32 years. Among the students who graduated after me is a flute player named Phyllis Bollinger, now Phyllis Fowler. Phyllis continued to play the flute after graduation and has been the principal flutist of the Bel Air Community Band for many years. She had the idea for organizing a reunion band to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Mr. Dombrowski’s first year as a music teacher even before he retired and kept in touch with the Dombrowskis after graduating. Being a brilliant and determined organizer, using the Internet, old yearbooks and all her wiles, starting in January 2002, Phyllis contacted everyone who had ever had band with Mr. Dombrowski to get together for a weekend in August 2003 for a Bel Air High School Reunion Band to be led by Mr. Dombrowski one more time. With our love for Mr. Dombrowski, this was an easy sell. We wound up with 100 band members from 26 states and ranging in age from 35 to 65. So many of Mr. D’s former students wanted to take part and play for him again that we had a reunion jazz band and string ensemble as well.

I badly wanted to join, but I’d sold my bassoon in college and did not have money for another one. Not to worry, Phyllis organized a bassoon for me. So, in August of 2003, I found myself playing bassoon again in a band room full of Bel Air High alumni with Mr. Dombrowski on the podium. I have to tell you, I was not the only person in the room who had just started to play again to honor Mr. D and celebrate all he taught us and thank him. Thus it was that we began to play and soon seriously messed up. Mr. D tapped his baton for silence. You could have heard a mallet drop. I swear, each and every one of us in that room was 16 again and blushing with remorse that we had disappointed Mr. D. But, being a kind and brilliant teacher, Mr. D quickly figured out how to break the difficult passage up and rehearsed us through it.

So we had a blast and rocked our 2003 reunion concert. However, there was a big fly in our ointment. Mrs. D could not attend the concert and banquet because she was hospitalized with a virus. Plus, we didn’t get to play the pieces written by Mr. D that I had looked forward to playing the most – our drum cadence and fight song, Hooray for Bobcats. The music for them had been lost, so Mr. D asked another composer to arrange the tune for us. We played the new version, and it had a stateliness suited for us as adults in a concert hall, but we missed the one that brought bleachers full of people to their feet to sing and cheer on our Bobcats at football games.

Well, Phyllis organized another reunion band for August 2006 and we were joyful that this time Mrs. D was in good health. At one of the rehearsals Mr. D was very dapper in a white tuxedo because he had come straight from playing a wedding with his band. But after we played the new arrangement of Hooray for Bobcats, he looked pensive and I couldn’t resist piping up to ask him why we couldn’t play the real cadence and fight song. He replied, “The music has been lost.” Then, with one voice, almost everyone in the band answered, “No problem! We remember it!” And immediately the percussion section launched into the cadence, which is what a marching band’s percussion section plays during parades to keep the band in step in-between playing marches. When they finished, to Mr. D’s obvious astonishment and delight, from memory we played his original Hooray for Bobcats.

The last time I saw Mr. Dombrowski was on Memorial Day this year (2008) when he and Mrs. D came to hear the speeches, see the ceremony of the laying of the wreaths in honor of members of the armed services and hear the Bel Air Community Band play in honor of the occasion. After the reunion band in 2003, Phyllis had recruited me to the community band, which is one of the largest and best in the U.S., so we were both there and spotted Ray and Esther before the concert and went flying off the band shell stage to greet them and hug them. Perhaps that mild sparkling day on the grass in front of a small town band shell best epitomized Mr. Dombrowski’s life – he was there with Esther, the love of his life, his wife of 52 years and partner in all his achievements; he was among the veterans being honored; and he was watching the performance of the community band that not only was filled with musicians he had trained but also led by a man who cheerfully credits being mentored by Mr. D in his first teaching job as being the foundation of his own successful career as a much-loved Harford county music teacher, Scott Sharnetzska.

Mr. Dombrowski died on Monday, August 25, 2008, at the age of 79 of pancreatic cancer. He was diagnosed not long after our 2006 reunion. He did so well in 2007 that at the beginning of 2008, Phyllis began to recruit us for another reunion and had a sizable group before Mr. D found that his cancer was no longer in remission.

Because Mr. Dombrowski was so modest and gracious about all his talents and accomplishments, and always ready for others to flourish in his presence, which in my book is the very definition of majesty of soul, until I came to Mr. Dombrowski’s viewing and saw him in his casket adorned with medals and surrounded by large certificates honoring him, I had no idea about his work on behalf of veterans and Polish culture. In addition to serving on the Harford County Veterans Commission and Maryland Veterans Commission, he founded the Baltimore chapter of the Polish Legion of American Veterans. Mr. D’s brother, Andy, told me his gold medal was awarded by the Polish Army in recognition of Mr. D’s work in making Americans aware of the struggle of the Polish people for freedom, and that Mr. D was the only person in the U.S. to be awarded this medal at the gold level. Mr. Dombrowski’s other medal was the Knight Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, which was awarded by the Polish government in recognition of his involvement and achievements in cultural projects in the Polish-American community.

The night before Mr. Dombrowski’s funeral, Mrs. D told Phyllis that she would love for the reunion band to get together again. In minutes, Phyllis had lined up Scott Sharnetzka to conduct and snagged a slot in next year’s Bel Air Summer Concert Series for August 2 for us to perform under our new name, the Raymond J. Dombrowski Memorial Reunion Band. I plan to be there in the bassoon section. Mr. Dombrowski composed many pieces of music throughout his career, and I expect we’ll play several of them to celebrate his life, but I believe the two we’ll play that will most invoke his spirit in our hearts are the ones that, without fail, make us all feel 16 again, sitting in the bleachers of the football field on a chilly Friday night, bringing the crowd to its feet to cheer and sing while we play our marching cadence and fight song, Hooray for Bobcats:

hoorayforbobcatsgoodquality-aug-30-2008-065700

Lyrics by Raymond J. Dombrowski:

Hooray for Bobcats! Hooray for Bobcats!
Someone’s in the grandstands yelling, ‘Hooray for Bobcats!’
One, two, three, four, who you gonna yell for?
Bobcats! Hooray! Rah! Rah! Rah!

Hooray for Bobcats! Hooray for Bobcats!
Someone’s in the grandstands yelling, ‘Hooray for Bobcats!’
One, two, three, four, who you gonna yell for?
Bobcats! Hooray! Rah! Rah! Rah!

Hooray for Bobcats! Hooray for Bobcats!
Someone’s in the grandstands yelling, ‘Hooray for Bobcats!’
One, two, three, four, who you gonna yell for?
Bobcats! Hooray!