It's not every day you go to a concert featuring musicians who have been recently risking their lives on the battlefield. Such is the life of members of the pipes and drums of the Black Watch of the community of Fife in Scotland.
These musicians are chosen from among the young men who qualify for military service for the Elite Battalion. Through observation during their basic training, those with musical ability and proper temperament are chosen to attend a school to instruct them in their unique musical duties. Being involved in the pipes and drums, though, does not relieve these troops of the same intensive military duty as their fellow soldiers. Major Andrew Holliday, a leader with the Black Watch, reports that, just within months, many of these men were fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
