Final salute

Bugler plays to honor veterans

scottw@standard-democrat.com

BENTON -- Playing taps at veteran funerals is more than just a time-honored military custom for a local man; it's a family tradition.

"I'm a second generation: my father was a bugler in World War II," said Frank J. Ovanin of Benton. "I do it to honor my father, the whole thing."

Ovanin played his 950th military internment ceremony Friday.

"I'm in my 14th year now," he said. "It's not my vocation but a very active avocation. My family knows this is one of the most important things I do in my life."

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