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Old story from when it used to be call the Nationals


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Hey, it's August and someone I know reminded me of this old story.

At the 1966 Legion Nationals in Washington D.C. the Boston Crusaders had the unfortunate luck of drawing 1st for the finals even though they finished 3rd in the preliminaries. Following their performance the corps went to a retreat setup area and placed horns, drums and color guard equipment of the ground in parade formation. To then get from the field up to the stands required entering a large holding area under the stands behind the end zone and then having to take a freight elevator up to the lower level concourse of RFK stadium. One of the stadium employees showed the way and up to the concourse and the seats the Crusaders went. A few corps later the Casper Troopers competed and were having trouble locating the right avenue to get up to the concourse area. Many took another route but a number of Troopers milled around trying to figure out how to get up to the stands. Directly above the milling Troopers the Crusaders sat in the lower stands watching the confusion unfold. Finally out of frustration one of the Troopers looked up and yelled “hey Boston, how did you get up there”? The response, almost simultaneously yelled out by at least 3 Crusaders was “PRACTICE”.

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In 1976 VFW was in NY at Randall’s Island. After marching in the mandatory (stupid) night parade, which stepped off alphabetically by state, we got back to our housing at 1:30am.

We had a bad draw (or late entry not sure) with a 7:30 step off. Inspection was at 7am. We had to get up early, go through the inspection process since DCI didn't do that anymore, and when we got there they cancelled inspection cause the sprinklers had been on and everyone had to walk through wet grass.

I don't know why we didn't just go right to U of P.

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I remember doing this at Randalls Island. We got one of the windows in our bus broken driving through the Bronx at 1 AM! I also remember that inspection was waved for us because we loaned much of our equipment to North Star who lost theirs in an equipment truck fire. They beat us with our own stuff. :thumbdown: BTW, I marched with the Long Island Kingsmen.

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I also remember that inspection was waved for us because we loaned much of our equipment to North Star who lost theirs in an equipment truck fire. They beat us with our own stuff. :thumbdown: BTW, I marched with the Long Island Kingsmen.

You guys beat North Star at VFW Nationals that year. They beat you at DCI.

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In 1976 VFW was in NY at Randall’s Island. After marching in the mandatory (stupid) night parade, which stepped off alphabetically by state, we got back to our housing at 1:30am.

We had a bad draw (or late entry not sure) with a 7:30 step off. Inspection was at 7am. We had to get up early, go through the inspection process since DCI didn't do that anymore, and when we got there they cancelled inspection cause the sprinklers had been on and everyone had to walk through wet grass.

I don't know why we didn't just go right to U of P.

I had forgotten that the parade was at night! And we were from Wisconsin....late step-off. I do remember that it was well attended by the NYPD, but that was about it! We stayed at a camp in NJ and froze my ### off! The cabins were 'rustic' to say the least with wide gaps between the floor boards.....and my sleeping bag had been caught in the cargo door of the bus and was soaked.

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Here are the 1976 VFW Nationals prelims scores:

August 18 New York, NY

Garfield 86.1

Cavaliers 83.95

Bridgemen 81.2

Muchachos 79.85

Blue Stars 76.5

Guardsmen 74.55

Saints 70.85

Boston Crusaders 70.8

Pembroke Imperials 68.4

Argonauts 67.05

L.I. Kingsmen 66.55

North Star 66.15

St. Ignatius 66

Meadowlarks 65.3

Emerald Bucs 65.15

Avant Garde 64.5

Marion Cadets 64.4

Sancians 63.5

Wausau Story 62.75

Pioneers 61

Colts 61

Defenders 57.85

Knights 56.05

Ridgemen 54.9

Bon Bons 54.35

Valiant Knights 53.75

NY Lancers 53.7

Bleu Raeders 51.4

Canadian Royalaires 50.85

Jeanettes 49.55

NY Warriors 47.45

Belles 44.45

Greece Cadets 44.2

Yankee/Marauders 43.75

Stardusters-LA 40.85

Cranford Patriots 39

Chessmen 32.9

Sacred Heart Crusaders 31.75

Royal Lancers-FL 21.3

Minutemen -PA 20.25

Edited by Northern Thunder
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Here are the 1976 VFW Nationals prelims scores:

August 18 New York, NY

Garfield 86.1

Cavaliers 83.95

Bridgemen 81.2

Muchachos 79.85

Blue Stars 76.5

Guardsmen 74.55

Saints 70.85

Boston Crusaders 70.8

Pembroke Imperials 68.4

Argonauts 67.05

L.I. Kingsmen 66.55

North Star 66.15

St. Ignatius 66

Meadowlarks 65.3

Emerald Bucs 65.15

Avant Garde 64.5

Marion Cadets 64.4

Sancians 63.5

Wausau Story 62.75

Pioneers 61

Colts 61

Defenders 57.85

Knights 56.05

Ridgemen 54.9

Bon Bons 54.35

Valiant Knights 53.75

NY Lancers 53.7

Bleu Raeders 51.4

Canadian Royalaires 50.85

Jeanettes 49.55

NY Warriors 47.45

Belles 44.45

Greece Cadets 44.2

Yankee/Marauders 43.75

Stardusters-LA 40.85

Cranford Patriots 39

Chessmen 32.9

Sacred Heart Crusaders 31.75

Royal Lancers-FL 21.3

Minutemen -PA 20.25

So sad to see how many of these corps no longer exist. I know this has been mentioned many times. I have a recording of the Canadian Royaliers from this year. Very good small corps with a fantastic hornline.

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I have a recording of the Canadian Royaliers from this year. Very good small corps with a fantastic hornline.

I saw them a year earlier, when they were still called the Klondike. I still remember they went on at Whitewater EXTREMELY early, and got rained on. That was the prelims where SCV handed Madison their lone defeat for '75. The Royalaires toured the Midwest, and they had a fairly potent brass line that year too.

I remember when the Canadian corps only dreamed of competing at VFW Nationals. The truly great ones never did get to, but over the years such corps as Lionettes and Canadian Royalaires were able to.

Edited by Northern Thunder
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