Last Salute (2019)

for string orchestra

 

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About the Piece:

Last Salute was written for Lt. Col. Kenneth Heaney as a gift for the family of Lt. Col. George

Seamands in his memory. The piece pays homage to Col. Seamands connections to the U.S. Military
and northern Virginia, where the composer spent his childhood. Some of the references you may hear include
Taps and O' Shenandoah embedded into the texture of the original material. The piece was premiered and
recorded for the family of Col. Seamands by the Rolesville High School Symphony Orchestra from
Rolesville, NC under the direction of Lt. Col. Kenneth Heaney's son, Joshua Heaney.

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About Lt. Col. George Seamands:

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"US Army Colonel (Ret.) George A. Seamands, 87, passed away on November 22, 2018 at the Fort

Belvoir Community Hospital. He was a long time resident of Springfield, VA where he was a member of
the Church of the Nativity in Burke. He and his wife moved in the Fairfax Retirement Community at Fort
Belvoir in 2014. George was born April 17, 1931 in El Reno, Oklahoma, the son of Charles H. and Allie
Price Seamands. He attended Oklahoma State University and was a member of Delta Sigma Pi. Upon
graduating as a distinguished military ROTC graduate in 1952, he entered the Army at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma.
During the Korean War he served as a Battery Commander with the 1st Field Artillery Battalion of I Corps
and later with the 25th Infantry Division; in Vietnam, he was with the 9th Infantry Division. His other
career assignments included Headquarters US Army Europe in Heidelberg Germany; Headquarters
Continental Army Command at Fort Monroe, VA; Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe Belgium,
and the US Army Finance School and Finance Center at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. After a branch
transfer from Field Artillery, he served in the Finance Corps for 28 years before retiring in 1982 from the
Office of the DA Comptroller at the Pentagon with a total of 30 years of service. Col. Seamands attended
the Command and General Staff College and earned an MBA from American University as well as an
Associate degree from Northern Virginia Community College. His decorations include the Legion of Merit
with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal,
the Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, National Defense Medal with Oak Leaf
Cluster as well as seven other US and Foreign military service medals. In 1965, he was selected as one of
the "Outstanding Young Men in America." After retirement from the military, he was a Real Estate agent
with Town and Country Properties in Springfield for ten years. He volunteered for several community and
church organizations; including 7 ½ years as an officer and board member of the Army Retired Residence
Foundation (The Fairfax,) the Boy Scouts, and serving as an Eucharistic Minister and Lector in Belgium
and the US. He was a member of the John Carroll Society, the SHAPE Officers Association, and was a 4th
degree member of the Knights of Columbus.

- Obituary Published Washington Post November 30th, 2018

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