While the United States Military Academy honors its legacy of graduates and alumni, what we call the Long Gray Line, the West Point Band also celebrates its former members. In its 200-plus years, the West Point Band has been home to some amazing musicians from all over the country. Perhaps we should call it the Long Musical Line?
I recently had the opportunity to speak with one of the band’s former members, Retired Sgt. Maj. Lee Anne Newton, who spent almost 31 years as a bugler in our field music group, the Hellcats. When Newton joined the West Point Band in 1980, she was the first female Hellcat; in 2003, she became the band’s first female sergeant major.
In her three decades of service, Newton performed as Hellcat Bugler and filled leadership roles as bugle section leader and eventually as the Hellcat’s noncommissioned officer in charge. With her extraordinary professionalism, musicianship, and leadership skills, Newton paved the way for other women to rise through our ranks.
She spoke with me about her time in The Hellcats on Thursday, February 25, 2021. Below is our conversation.
Do you come from a military family?
Yes, my father Levi Barnes was in the Air Force for 30 years. He actually started out as a French horn player in the Army bands before he went to cadet training to fly planes. He was an Army Air Corps bomber during World War II. After the war, he went to Princeton on the GI Bill and then returned to the Air Force for a full career. I grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he was stationed for many years.
How did you first get involved in music? Did you start on trumpet?
No, I started on violin and piano in the fourth grade, which was excruciating for everybody! I didn’t really enjoy it, though I did take lessons. But my mom was a trombone player and she taught lessons on brass instruments: trumpet, trombone, and euphonium. So, I switched over to trumpet in the sixth grade and started taking lessons from her.
Wow, I assume you probably didn’t see a lot of female brass players back in the day.
No, in fact my mom, Geri Barnes, was asked to play in a local dance band back in the ‘40s because the men were all fighting in the war. She was actually the first female brass player to play in that dance band.
Did you know from an early age that you wanted to be a musician?
I did. It was my only focus going through junior high and high school. I met Ed Lewis, who was a trumpet player and professor of music at a local school in Colorado, where I grew up. He eventually moved to Canada to teach at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, and later I went up there to continue my studies with him. It was at the University of Regina where I completed my degree in Music Education in 1980.
How did you hear of the West Point Band?
My teacher Ed Lewis introduced me to the idea of a music career in the military band. He had gone to Eastman and Juilliard and then played principal trumpet in the Army Field Band in the ‘60s. In my senior year, while I was thinking about teaching public school, he said, “How would you like to be in an Army band like I was?” And I thought, “Well okay, sure!” At that point, there was an opening in The Hellcats, so we put together a tape in the spring of 1980. I graduated soon after, and The Hellcats flew me up to West Point to audition in July. I won the audition, went to basic training, and was at West Point by November.
Being fresh out of school and then joining the band, what was it like to be the first woman in The Hellcats?
Well, it was a big change for me geographically, having never traveled east of Kansas. But in high school I played in several bands, and a lot of the time I was the only female trumpet player. So, I had had that kind of experience already. But being the only female in an all-male group in the military, I thought, “What am I getting into?” But the guys were great. It was certainly a privilege and honor to be there, and we became good friends.
Of course, there were other women in the West Point Band, maybe seven at that time. We had one small locker room, because that was all we needed. There were great friendships made in that locker room.
What performance was the most meaningful to you, personally?
Certainly the most important thing we did in the Hellcats was play taps at funerals. The majority of funerals that we played were for World War II veterans, although there were also Vietnam vets and some active-duty Soldiers and cadets.
Everybody knows what taps sounds like, and you wanted to do the very best job you could for the family, to honor the person who served. It didn’t matter what the weather was; you could be stuck in a downpour or be facing a windchill of minus 20 degrees. No matter the condition, and even if your valves froze in the cold, we always posted early and did the best job that we could.
Do you have any other favorite memories from playing in The Hellcats that you’d like to share?
I liked playing for the alumni classes at homecoming because although they hated The Hellcats when they were cadets (for waking them up so early), they seemed to love us when they came back for homecoming!
We also regularly played in parades, often for many, many people, and to great accolades. For instance, in the summer of 1994, we flew to Germany to play for the closing of Berlin Brigade.
But I also remember this one parade early on in my career in a little town — I don’t remember the name — but the parade went through a bunch of back roads in the countryside. There was nobody there, except for some cows. The cows seemed to really enjoy it, though!
During your career in the West Point Band, you achieved a lot of “firsts.” As you rose through the ranks, you became the first female Hellcat Sergeant First Class, then Master Sergeant, and then finally the band’s first female Sergeant Major What was that like?
Well, I didn’t want to mess up for the women who came after me! You know, facing any comments of, “We shouldn’t have put a woman in that role.” But when you’re in charge, you have to have people you can rely on to help run the group, and I did have great people. Any success The Hellcats had while I was in charge was due to the people I worked with.
I had a good rapport with the whole group; they were wonderful musicians and great guys to work with. I genuinely loved the job.
Thank you so much for sharing your stories with me today! Since we are speaking in March, Women’s History Month, can you share some advice for any young girls reading this?
Yes! Whatever you want to do, whatever your passion is in your life — go for it. Whether it’s something considered to be a traditionally female job or a male job, it doesn’t matter. You break down those barriers. That’s the bottom line. You have to have a focus and you have to be willing to work hard. Just do your best.
