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The 97th Field Artillery Band were based stationed at Fort Sill, Lawton, Oklahoma. The band was decommissioned in 1977.

Personnel

Unites States Army Band, Fort Sill

In 1954, Slater served in the 97 U.S. Army Band at Fort Sill as a pianist and French horn player. Slater directed a weekly television show from Fort Sill. During that time, Gary McFarland was among the musicians. Jazz composer Clare Fischer, brother of music the late music educator Dirk Fischer, was also in the 97th Army Band during the 1950s.

Other 97th Army Band members during the 1950s

Around 1952 to 195?: Morris Eugene Repass (born 1932), 02B, trombone, earned Bachelors and Masters degrees in 1952 and 1964 from TCU, after the Army, played trombone with the Dallas Symphony from 1957 to about 1961, then moved to Los Angeles to work as a studio musician; he was a member of the 1960-1961 Lab Band

1950s Ernest Leroy Repass (born 1939), 02E, bass, graduated from TCU in 1951, after the Army, enjoyed a long career as a high school band director in Texas, and also, from 1957 to 1967, was a tubist in the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Fort Worth Opera Orchestra

1950s Bill Galanko (né William Robert Galanko; 1931–2012), 42R

1950s Bill Garver, 02L, saxophone

1953–1955: Ted Hegvik (né Arthur Theodore Hegvik; born 1932), 02L, saxophone, clarinet

1950s: Firmin J. Baye (1931–1916), 02J, clarinet, went on to become a helicopter pilot in the Army; through employment with Arthur B. Krim, he was the helicopter pilot for LBJ; when LBJ died, he became ranch foreman of Krim's Santana Ranch, Kingsland, Texas.

1950s: Neil Slater, 02N, piano

1950s: Larry Wilson, 02B, trumpet

1953: Clare Fischer, 02L, saxophone

1952–1954: Dwight Beckham, 02B, Trumpet

1957–1958: Glenn J. Koca (born 1934) 037, saxophone, went on to become a longtime high school band director in Nebraska

1955–1956: Frederick A. Mueller (1921–2002) (nl), bassoonist

1950s: William D. Gaver, who before serving 2 years in the 97th Army Band, graduated from Eastman in 1954; after the Army, he earned a Masters degree in Music from the University of Houston in 1958, and a DMA from the University of Missouri–Kansas City in 1971

1953–1955: Morton Cecil Cuplin (1927–2012), bugler at Fort Sill, Morton also organized men's choruses, TV performances, radio programs, and church services

1959: CWO Raymond Oliver McCune (1908–1976), director; before entering the Army in 1943, he had played with dance bands that included Jan Garber

1959: Pvt. Raymond Oliver McCune, Jr. (1929–1971), son of the director, played clarinet; he had served in the U.S. Army from 1948 to 1952 and, after that, had played with Freddy Martin in New York, the re-enlisted in July 1959

1955–1956 (at least): Floyd Skillern (bass)

1956: Sp3 Kenneth Lovejoy, bugler, trumpet

1956: Pfc Phil Shafer, bugler, trumpet

1955: Raymond Anders (Andrew) Papai (1932–2003), clarinet, alto sax; after the Army, he earned Bachelors and Masters degrees in music from Indiana University Bloomington and Northwestern; he went on the lead his own orchestra and, in the 1970s, served as musical director of the Mill Run Theater in Niles, Illinois

97th Army Band Dance Band at Fort Sill (circa 1953)

Bob Slejko (né Robert Slejko) (leader), Ernest Repass (trombone), Prentice Jeffries (alto), Al Rosata (alto), Dwight Beckham (né Dwight Russel Beckham, Sr.; 1931–2016) (trumpet), Dick Kovac (tenor), Don Larsen (drums), George Unger (bass), Jim Ecker (piano)

97th Army Marching/Concert Band, 1953

"Stars in a Velvety Sky,"

Composed by Herbert L. Clarke

Performed by Pfc. Beckham, on YouTube

Conduced by WOJG Adam Paul Shpakowsky (aka Spakowsky; 1916–1989)

97th Army Dance Band, 1955

Neal Slater (piano), Dick Walker, Fred Mueller (sax), Floyd Skillern (bass), Ray Papai (alto sax), Bill Gaver (alto sax), Chuck Yablonski (bari sax) (incomplete list)

Source: The Bugler, 97th Army Band, Ft. Sill, Okla., Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 6, November–December 2000; source url www2.moreheadstate.edu

• See: 97th Army Band Newsletter