Bill Nance
Banned
My wife and I were both thinking WTF? Im used to hearing the 1812 with cannon shots that thunder and make your insides shake. These sounded like Safe N Sane fireworks pops.
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We noticed the same thing on TV. Lotsa sparks but no oomph. I thought maybe the mic's might not have been picking up the bass from the cannons this year.
They were doing rehearsal rounds all throughout the day...they were the same as during the rehearsals earlier...I was also there on the 3rd for the rehearsal...the sound was the same.
As always, a military artillery unit brought three howitzers to the Esplanade to fire during the Boston Pops’ traditional dramatic orchestral piece that begins the fireworks display. During firing practice earlier in the evening, however, the 1-101st Field Artillery of the Massachusetts Army National Guard, under the direction of Capt. Tim Murphy, realized one of the howitzers was not firing properly. The culprit was determined to be a faulty firing pin. Faced with the prospect of only two-thirds of the cannon being able to fire during the Overture’s stirring climax, the Massachusetts State Police jumped into action.
Another howitzer had been utilized at an event in Plymouth earlier in the day. Apprised of the situation in Boston, National Guard members began to take the working firing pin out of that howitzer, so they could drive it up to Boston. To make sure it got here in time, MSP Motorcycle Unit Troopers David Mcquade and Douglas Loring revved their ignitions and hit the Southeast Expressway. When they got to the Weymouth area, they met the driver who had left Plymouth with the new pin. The troopers took possession of the pin, turned around, and rode back to Boston, arriving like the cavalry in time for the new pin to be inserted into the howitzer.
Because of the quick response of Troopers Mcquade and Loring, the famous Overture went off with a bang – or three of them, actually, from all three howitzers firing as intended. The Massachusetts State Police were honored to have been of assistance to the members of the military serving this country on this most patriotic of days.
Happy Independence Day from the Massachusetts State Police.