Wheaton, Illinois – It’s been more than 80 years since his retirement, Colonel of the Air Force Arnald Gabriel from Arlington, Virginia, was sworn in to defend his country during the Second World War, where he saw the fight.
Gabriel, 100 years old, who also served in the American army, was formerly the conductor of the US Air Force Band, and under his direction, he became international renown.
In 1992, one of his biggest fans, Bruce Moss – conductor of the municipal wheat band in Wheaton, Illinois – invited Gabriel to be a guest conductor.
“He didn’t know me,” Moss told CBS News told. “He did not know the group. But he fell in love with the group over time and continued to come back.”
During a later visit in 2000 or 2001, Moss said he said to Gabriel, who was in the 1970s at the time, “you looked so well, I bet you would always lead to 100 years.”
According to Moss, Gabriel replied: “I intend to do so.”
When Moss heard this, he recognized an opportunity too good to pass. He wrote a contract which declared that Gabriel would undertake to carry out the municipal group of Wheaton on his 100th anniversary.
“So I went home, I wrote a contract and sent it by post,” said Moss. “… He (Gabriel) said:” Of course, if I do not arrive at 100, this contract is zero and not avenue, but do not count on this. “”
Gabriel’s health is down and it can no longer travel. But he was determined to honor his commitment.
“Your word is your link,” Gabriel told CBS News. “If you sign a contract, you must do it – without a doubt.”
And that is why, last month, remotely, he struck the municipal group of Wheaton one last time. Even at 100, he kept perfect time. But more importantly, he had kept his word.
“I felt like I was there on stage with them,” said Gabriel. “This is how it felt.”
