“Taps” is a bugle call originally sounded as a signal for “lights out” at the end of a military day, and during patriotic memorial ceremonies and military funerals conducted by the United States Armed Forces. Of all the military bugle calls, none is so easily recognized or more emotionally touching than Taps. Today, the 24 mournful notes comprising this call are sounded to honor the memory of members of all five branches of the armed forces;: and to remember those who gave their lives in the service of the United States.