Anchor and Star

Sousa wearing his U.S. Navy Reserve uniform, holding a copy of Great Lakes Recruit magazine

On May 31, 1917, not long after the United States declared war on Germany and entered World War I, Sousa was commissioned as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve, serving as leader of the Navy Band at the Great Lakes Naval Station near Chicago, Illinois.[2] While "known most often"[2] for his service as leader of the U.S. Marine Band, Sousa's commission as a naval Lieutenant Commander was the first time he had served as a commissioned officer in the military; it also was the first time in history that any U.S. Navy musician had become a commissioned officer.[2] At the time he entered the Navy, Sousa was 62 years old.[2]

It was, in 1918, while serving as bandleader for the U.S. Navy Battalion Band at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center that Sousa composed "Anchor & Star."[1] Sousa dedicated his march “To the U.S. Navy."[1] Much as his march "Globe and Eagle" was named after the Marine Corps emblem, Sousa named "Anchor and Star" after the emblem of the U.S. Navy.[1]

Sousa's naval service was a great success, as "young musicians rushed to enlist and learn under him in the recruit training band."[2] He formed a large band of 350 members, and toured with it in cities in support of "Liberty Loan bonds, the Red Cross, Navy relief and recruiting."[2] Sousa's navy tours ultimately raised over $21 million for the war effort.[2]

"Anchor & Star" is often compared with another Sousa march, "Semper Fidelis" (the official march of the U.S. Marine Corps), as the two pieces have "a resemblance in construction, rhythm, key, and contrapuntal devices."[1]

• List of marches by John Philip Sousa