Marc Garcia is a trumpet player who moonlights as a bugler at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. He plays taps at the end of graveside services. If you have ever been to such a service, you know that the haunting notes of the melody provide an emotional end to the event.

Garcia contacted me recently to say that he and his fellow buglers have been replaced by a battery-operated bugle.

He wrote in an email: “When I sound live taps, I put all my spirit and soul into all 24 notes that I play, and that’s the same spirit and soul that our veterans gave to this country while serving. And now they are going to get a fake bugle? A live bugler adds that very important touch for the military service. To me, our veterans deserve the real thing and it’s a disgrace to present them with anything else!”

Buglers make $24.50 per service. That’s not excessive. They have to be at the grave site early, and sometimes the preachers carry on a while. Also, there is an honorary three-volley rifle salute, and the folding and presentation of the flag.

The rifle salute is done by a four-man team — three riflemen and a fourth man who gives the orders. (The fourth man now operates the battery-run bugle.) Generally, these teams come from veterans service organizations — VFWs or American Legion Posts. Garcia said the teams get $100 per service.

The flag teams are made up of two men. The family of the veteran can request either uniformed service members or members of veterans service organizations for this duty. Garcia said he does not know how much the flag team receives.

The Missouri Military Funeral Honors Program in Jefferson City declined to provide information to me.

Who is eligible for military honors at a funeral? According to the program’s website, virtually all veterans who have received an honorable discharge are eligible. A veteran does not have to be buried at a national cemetery to receive military honors. The honors teams travel to private cemeteries.

Since the program began in Missouri in 1999, more than 114,000 veterans have received these honors. The program has been averaging 729 funerals a month.

According to the program’s website, it is funded by the federal government and the Missouri National Guard Trust Fund.

Both the federal government and the state government are broke. So why are we providing military funeral honors for all veterans? It is a nice gesture we can’t afford.

Certainly, men and women killed in combat deserve full military honors. It’s a way for the country to say, “We honor the memory of those who died in our service.” These military honors — and the thought behind them — are intended to provide some solace for the families of the fallen.

But what about the guy who spends a couple of years in the military and then gets on with his life? Bear in mind that most veterans did nothing heroic. They served, and that’s laudable, but it hardly seems necessary to provide them all with military honors after they have died. In fact, it seems generous enough to provide veterans and their spouses with free space and headstones at a national cemetery.

Why not let the veterans organizations provide military honors at the funerals of their members? If a person gets out of the Marine Corps and wants to stay connected, he can join the Marine Corps League. I’m sure the 101st Airborne has an association. In a more general vein, we have the American Legion and the VFW.

Providing military honor funerals for their members would be a boon to these organizations. Membership would presumably climb, and veterans who want the military funerals could still get them.

Everybody knows government needs to cut costs.

This is exactly how you do it. You identify things you don’t need, and you cut them. Maybe they’re nice things, but if you don’t need them, you cut them. Admittedly, this program is a small item, but as you go through the massive budget, you look for lots of small items. You try to trim big things, but that doesn’t mean you overlook little ones.

Dropping these military funeral honors would not be a slap in the face to veterans. If these honors are important to a person, he or she can join a veterans organization.

We owe a lot to our veterans. They might not have been heroes, but they served. I hope they join with me in considering this a final chance to serve their country. Let’s play taps for an unnecessary program.