42nd Infantry Division Band Performs at Geneva's Smith Opera House on August 10

GENEVA , NY (08/06/2014)-- The New York Army National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division Band will play a free concert Sunday afternoon, August 10, at the Smith Opera House. The concert begins at 2 p.m.

The performance is part of the 42nd Infantry Division Band's two-week Annual Training. The band will appear at performances across the state as the musical ambassadors of the New York Army National Guard and the 42nd Infantry "Rainbow" Division.

The band is based at the New York National Guard's Camp Smith Training Site in Cortlandt Manor.

Other band performances are:

• Westleigh Park, Staten Island, August 8, at 7 p.m.;

•Syracuse University's Setnor Auditorium, August 9 at 2 p.m.;

• Auburn Jr. High School in Auburn, New York on Monday, August 11 at 7:30 p.m.;

• Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, New York on Wednesday August 13 at 7:30 p.m.;

• And Shepards Park in Lake George Village, New York on Friday, August 15 at 7 p.m.

The band has already performed at the Patterson Recreation Center in Patterson and the Montrose Veterans Administration Center in Montrose.

Members of Army bands are both musicians and Soldiers. Along with playing their instruments band members train on the same weapons and combat skills that all Soldiers learn. When they are not performing at ceremonies or at morale building events, band members fulfill other military task.

Historically members of Army bands served as stretcher bearers during battle, caring for wounded Soldiers. In modern times band members have been trained to perform security missions. During the 42nd Divison Band's deployment to Tikrit, Iraq in 2005, for example, band members acted as guards for the 42nd Infantry Division Main Command Post .

The 42nd Infantry Division, nicknamed the "Rainbow Division" during World War I because its members came from National Guard units that stretched across America like a "rainbow", has been a New York Army National Guard unit since 1947. The division was most recently deployed to Iraq in 2005 and the 42nd Infantry Division Band deployed as part of the division headquarters. Band members performed at military ceremonies, played for U.S. troops at dining halls and recreation centers, and performed at receptions for local Iraqi offiicals.

For more information on the band's concert schedule, or to arrange coverage of the band members of the press should contact Sgt. 1st Class Becky Rapp at 914-944-6552.