Twelve years after graduating from Hickory High School, Jerry Sherrill returned Friday night to lead the band as its drum major for homecoming.
Sherrill attended Hickory High from 1992 through 1996. He'd played trumpet since sixth grade, and began conducting in seventh grade. When he was a junior and senior in high school, he led the band during half-time performances and at competitions.
After high school, Sherrill enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps.
"My family was in the military, and it was something I always wanted to do. It was an alternative to going to college," he said. "I was the hydraulics instructional mechanic for CH-53E helicopters."
Initially stationed in California, Sherrill was deployed to Okinawa, Japan, twice before returning to Camp Lejeune. He stayed there for three years to teach others about hydraulic maintenance on helicopters.
Sherrill requested to transfer back to deployable status, though, "Because I knew several Marines, and I wanted to do my part. I went to France, Italy, and I got several American citizens out of American Embassy in Lebanon in July 2006, before going on to Kuwait," he said.
In 2007, Sherrill went to recruiting school before being transferred to his hometown in May 2008.
"It's been good to be back. I've seen a lot of familiar faces," he said. "Not a lot's changed at the high school."
Part of recruiting is to visit area high schools. It was on one of these visits to Hickory High that Sherrill met Tammy Reyes, the current band director at the school.
"I told her that I'd like to come out one more time to direct the band, and she offered to let me.
Hearing a band and being around it brought the feeling of wanting to do it," Sherrill said. "We threw around dates about when, and this was the week that came up, and it happened to be homecoming."
He practiced twice with the band this week, before conducting them Friday night during the game. He served as the drum major during the National Anthem, as well as a few other songs while the band played in the stands. Sherrill said he was excited to do it.
"Doing this kind of made me wish I'd pursued music with the Marines," he said.
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