Leeds High School Marching Band to Perform at Pearl Harbor

Leeds High School Marching Band to Perform at Pearl Harbor

The Pride of the Green Wave Marching Band for Leeds High School has been invited to perform at Pearl Harbor in March of 2024.  LHS Band Director, Chip Wise, was commissioned by the City of Leeds to compose a musical piece for the city to honor the three Congressional Medal of Honor recipients that called Leeds home.  The piece is entitled, “City of Valor”.  The band will perform the piece at the Pearl Harbor concert entitled, “Remembering the Heroes”, on March 26, 2024.

This is an extraordinary once in a lifetime opportunity for our high school band to perform a musical piece that was specially written to honor our city, our community, and most importantly to honor our very own Medal of Honor recipients. It is a huge honor that the students will get to travel to such an iconic and historical place and perform something so special for the Leeds community and to continue to honor the veterans that have laid down their lives for our country.

Leeds is the only city of the US per capita that has three Congressional Medal of Honor recipients. These veterans include SSG Henry E. “Red” Erwin, First Lt. William R. Lawley, Jr. and PFC Alford L. McLaughlin. Lawley, was a pilot in the Air Force who received the Medal of Honor for saving the lives of his crew by flying his crippled B17 airplane over continental Europe in the face of heavy enemy fire during World War II. McLaughlin was presented the Medal of Honor for bravely defending a combat outpost in Korea against the enemy in 1952 during a night time attack. The third Metal of Honor was presented to Erwin who was a radio operator with the 52nd Bombardment Squadron in World War II. He was aboard a B29 airplane headed to attack a Japanese outpost in 1945 when he was severely burned by a phosphorus smoke bomb that prematurely exploded inside the cabin of the aircraft. Because of the heroism of these three, Leeds became known as the City of Valor. The city honors them along with more than 200 Leeds veterans each year.

The Pride of the Green Wave Marching Band has a history of performance excellence that dates back to 1957 that includes hundreds of Best in Class, 1st place, and Championship Awards. In the past ten years, the LHS band has been Bands of America Class A Regional runners up, USBands Southern States Group 2A Champions, Hoover Invitational Class 2 & 3A Champions and Class 3A Champions at the Sparks in the Park at Spain Park High School. They have performed in the Governor's Inaugural Parade. Most recently, the band performed at the Pinson Valley Band Competition where they received all superior ratings and won Best in Class in their division for Band and for Drumline.  The Pride has been featured on local, regional, and national telecasts too many times to count and now are very honored to have the Pearl Harbor opportunity in the spring.

Leeds High School Band Boosters are actively working to raise money for all seventy-five of the students to be able to take this incredible trip and be a part of such an exciting endeavor. The Boosters and Staff want every student to have this once in a lifetime trip, however many of them cannot afford the cost. The goal is to raise at least $200,000 which would enable each student to travel at very little cost.  If the band boosters are successful in raising at least the $200,000, each student would pay approximately $100 for the trip.

Leeds High School Band Boosters Organization is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, a separate entity from the school, and all donations are tax-deductible.  A variety of sponsorships are available and all donations are greatly appreciated. One fundraiser that the boosters just kicked off is a raffle fundraiser for  accommodations for a 5-night Disney trip, valued at over $10k. Each raffle ticket is $50. You can utilize our Venmo @LHS-Band (last 4 numbers are 4026) and visit the band website at https://leedshighschoolband.com/

For more information or to donate, please contact Band Booster President, Laura Roberts, at lhsbbo@gmail.com or Band Director, Chip Wise, at (205) 699-4510. The mailing address for the Band Booster Organization is PO Box 1211, Leeds, AL 35094.