Thirty-five years ago, as Airman Nora Lemmon marched through Danville on the Fourth of July playing her clarinet with the 561st Air Force Band, she got water balloons thrown at her. It was just after the Vietnam War, and antimilitary resentment still burned hot in America.

These days, Senior Master Sgt. Lemmon can barely walk a block in uniform without some stranger thanking her for her service. After all the national soul-searching that came with the post-Vietnam examinations and the gulf wars, when Lemmon's band blasts out "Stars and Stripes Forever" today at county fairs, high schools and parades, she fetches resounding cheers with nary a water balloon to be found.

Times have certainly changed.

What hasn't changed is the music.

Until now.

After 70 years of entertaining soldiers, generals, and families with little kids at parades, taps is about to be sounded for the 561st Air Force Band.

The band is being decommissioned as of Oct. 1, 2013, as part of a consolidation of resources throughout the military that will close down six of the nation's 11 Air National Guard bands. That makes this final year a farewell tour of sorts - which means each gig is now tinged with a wistful tone.

It's the same as it is with any musical outfit, from garage bands to symphonies: Crafting melodies and harmonies together for years has welded the 33 players and their commander together emotionally.

'Hate to see it end'

"You hate to see it end," said 58-year-old Lemmon, standing in the band's headquarters at Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View with xylophones, drums and horns lying all around, ready for the next practice. "At one point we had five married couples in the band. I married my husband when we were playing together in the band. You really come to care a lot for each other.

"And just think of the history - such a lot of history," she said.

The band was born in 1942 in the midst of World War II as part of the military's effort to buoy morale among the troops and the population in general. The idea then - as now - was to send crack military musicians to bond rallies, parades and on occasion to the war front to blare out a mix of popular and patriotic tunes and show that folks in uniform could hit the notes as well as anyone, whether it was "In the Mood" or the national anthem.

Through the years, the unit has played for Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush and other bigwigs including the Princess of Thailand and Chief Justice Earl Warren. In 2009, the band's rock music wing, Rescue Crew, did a 30-day tour of American military bases in the Middle East.

"Playing the 'Armed Services Medley' or 'Stars and Stripes,' and getting a chance to see veterans standing tall and proud while you play, never gets old," said the band's commander, Capt. Vu Nguyen, who lives in Indianapolis. "We represent the public face of the Air National Guard, and the Air Force in general, and to go out and tell the story of our men and women in uniform is great."

Rehearsals and gigs

Many in the band do music professionally outside of the Guard, teaching at colleges and playing in community organizations or professional orchestras including the Stockton Symphony. As members of the Guard, they report for duty once a month and for two weeks in the summer - which in band-speak means they show up for rehearsals and gigs.

Many live in the Bay Area and the Central Valley, but some fly in from as far away as - in Nguyen's case - Indiana. They come to be part of something special: There are a couple of other military bands left in the Bay Area, but the 561st is the last Air National Guard band here.

The 561st has held that distinction so long it is dubbed the Air National Guard Band of the West Coast. After it ceases, the title will transfer to what then will be the only Air National Guard band in California, the 562nd Air Force Band at Port Hueneme (Ventura County).

The "bandsmen," as they are called in military parlance, will all be transferred to other units specializing in duties such as medicine - but a few will wind up in other bands, including the 562nd.

Technical Sgt. Kim Rodriguez, 57, took inventory of the equipment with Lemmon the other day. As they poked through the blue uniforms, instruments and cabinets holding thousands of pages of sheet music - every genre from marches, polkas and "Porgy and Bess" to "The Blue Bells of Scotland" - they looked like they were about to say goodbye to their children.

"There's some great stuff here," said Rodriguez, who lives in Fairfield. She pulled a French horn from its case and cradled it tenderly.

"This is a Conn 8D horn, a real classic from the 1960s," she said. "And over there is a cabinet full of piccolos. Now someone else will get some great use out of them."

Sang at World Series

The unit played at the Veterans Day Parade in San Jose this month, and one of its singers, Staff Sgt. Dan Olivas, grabbed the national spotlight when he sang "God Bless America" at AT&T Park during the second game of the World Series. The next show hasn't been locked in yet, but the bandsmen say they will treat each note as if it were their last.

'Gave me purpose'

"Playing with this band has done a lot for me," said 31-year-old Olivas, who lives in Ceres (Stanislaus County) and has played with the band for 11 years. "When I was unemployed, it gave me purpose. When I went to school, the GI Bill helped me. But it's just being with these people that has meant the most.

"It's like being in a family. You tour together, you're in close quarters together, you make music together. It's not just what I know the best, it's what I enjoy the best."