US. NAVY BLUE ANGELS PERFORM OVER ELLIS ISLAND, NY
About Us
THE AMERICAN LEGION IS A VOLUNTEER BASED VETERANS SERVICE
NON -PROFIT ORGANIZATION.
21-Gun Salute or Three Volley Salute
Jay C. Wood, USN (Ret)
Since the enactment of the federal law providing for the rendering of military funeral honors, more and more veterans are receiving a three volley salute at their gravesite.
This three volley salute is not a twenty-one gun salute!
Some may remember watching President Reagan’s funeral on television. He received both a 21-gun salute and a three volley salute, but for different reasons and by different people using different weapons and at different times during the ceremony.
There is probably no better ‘authority’ for drills and ceremonies than the Army. The U.S. Army’s first drill manual, called the Blue Book,was written at Valley Forge
in 1778. Chapter 1 of the current “Drill and Ceremonies” manual contains a short history about what happened at Valley Forge and why the Blue Book came into being. It makes for some very interesting reading.Chapter 14 in the drill manual deals with funerals and the various funeral ceremonies. Skip over to Paragraph 10, “Cannon Salute.” There you will find, “Immediately preceding the benediction, a Cannon Salute corresponding to the grade of the deceased … is fired at five-second intervals. Following the benediction, three volleys of
musketry are fired.” (The italics are in the manual for emphasis.)
The use of the word ‘musketry’ in the current edition of the drill manual is possibly a holdover from the Blue Book. These two salutes are separate events which take place at different times during the
funeral ceremony.
Now to determine what weapons are used at which time and for which salute.
In Army terminology, a ‘gun’ is what civilians call a ‘cannon’.No soldier will ever refer to his personal, shoulder fired weapon as a ‘gun’
(or his Sergeant will ‘drill’ into him the difference).
Paragraph 17 in that same chapter has intricate and detailed instructions covering what the ‘firing party’ does while rendering a three volley salute. There are a variety of weapons which can be used but most are fired from the shoulder. Hand held weapons such as pistols and revolvers have been used in three volley salutes.
As an aside, there is an organization, Sons of Union Veterans of the civil War,whose members are actively searching for the burial sites
of Civil War veterans. When they hold a ceremony for a Civil War veteran, they fire three
volleys using muskets. Some may be using rifles but all of their weapons are muzzle loading, single shot, black powder, shoulder fired, Civil War era weapons.It takes them a while to fire all three volleys because of the loading and re-loading of the weapons.
This brings up another difference between the two salutes. A ‘volley’ is when all the weapons are fired simultaneously.
In a Cannon Salute, the guns are fired one at a time.
How many weapons are fired depends on a couple of factors.How many weapons are available and how many people are available to fire them.
It really doesn’t matter if there is only one gun or twenty-one guns as long as they are fired one at a time until the total number of
firings is reached.
Paragraph 17 in the same chapter says, “For ceremonial firing,the firing party consists of not more than eight riflemen and not less than five with one noncommissioned officer in charge.” The main thing is that they all fire simultaneously each of the three volleys.
Why did President Reagan receive a 21-gun Salute? For that we need to look at the Arlington National Cemetery and the U.S. Army’s most elite drill and ceremony unit, those who perform the ceremonies at
Arlington.
On one of the web pages dealing with funerals at Arlington we find, “The president of the United
States is entitled to a 21-gun salute….”
(For a complete listing of who gets how many ‘Guns’ for their salute, see the
US. Army Regulations. )
By the way, the Reagan funeral’s military ceremonies were conducted by members of the ‘Old Guard’, the 3rd United States Infantry, who, among other duties, perform most if not all of the funeral ceremonies at
Arlington National Cemetery. Company E of the Old Guard provides the Sentinels for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Now you know the difference between the two salutes,
when they are given, who does the firing and with which weapons. Gun salutes, including a 21-gun salute, are
fired from cannons. Three volley salutes are usually from
shoulder fired
weapons.
Next time you see a ‘firing party’ at a funeral ceremony you will notice that they each fire three times. This is the traditional three volley salute to which every
honorably discharged veteran is entitled.
THE AMERICAN LEGION POST 44 AND POST 96 ARE THE ONLY AUTHORIZED PROVIDERS TO ASSIST ALL BRANCHES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE IN PROVIDING RESPECTFUL MILITARY FUNERAL HONORS TO THE VETERANS.THE POINT OF CONTACT FOR YOUR
VETERANS FUNERAL SERVICES IS RON CLEVENGER AT 304-457-1036.
SGT AT ARMS HOWARD MOSS SOUNDS TAPS
MIKE KEENE,RON CLEAVENGER,JIM WAGNER
STAND AT ATTENTION AS A HEARSE ARRIVES.
BARBOUR COUNTY VETERANS HONOR GUARD
FIRE A 3- ROUND VOLLEY
Funeral Honors
TIP:
Confirm your eligibility for burial benefits, by calling a Veteran's Benefits Counselor at 1-800-827-1000
Military Funeral Honors have always been provided by Department of Defense, at no cost, whenever possible. However, the law now mandates the rendering of Military Funeral Honors for an eligible veteran if requested
by the family. As provided by law, an honor guard detail for the burial of an eligible veteran shall consist of not less than two members of the Armed Forces. One member of the detail shall be a representative of the parent Service of the deceased veteran. The honor detail will at a minimum, perform a ceremony that includes the folding and presenting of the
American flag to the next of kin and the playing of Taps. Taps will be played by a bugler, if available,or by electronic recording. Today, there are so few buglers available that the Military Services often cannot provide one.Families of eligible veterans request funeral honors through
their funeral director.
The funeral director will contact the appropriate Military Service to arrange for the funeral honors detail.
The core elements of the funeral honors ceremony, which will be conducted on request, include:
Flag folding Flag presentation Playing of Taps The veteran’s parent Service representative will present the flag.
Confirm your eligibility for burial benefits, by calling a Veteran's Benefits Counselor at 1-800-827-1000
TITLE 10, UNITED STATES CODE - ARMED FORCES
CHAPTER 75 - DECEASED PERSONNEL
SUBCHAPTER II - DEATH BENEFITS
Sec. 1491. Funeral honors functions at funerals for veterans
-STATUTE-
(a) Availability of Funeral Honors Detail Ensured. – The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that, upon request, a funeral honors detail is provided for the funeral of any veteran, except when military honors are prohibited under section 985(a) of this title.
(b) Composition of Funeral Honors Details. - (1) The Secretary of each military department shall ensure that a funeral honors detail for the funeral of a veteran consists of two or more persons.
(2) At least two members of the funeral honors detail for a veteran's funeral shall be members of the armed forces (other than members in a retired status), at least one of whom shall be a member of the armed force of which the veteran was a member. The remainder of the detail may consist of members of the armed forces (including members in a retired status), or members of veterans organizations
or other organizations approved for purposes of this section under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense. Each member of the armed forces in the detail shall wear the uniform of the member's armed force while serving in the detail.
*BARBOUR COUNTY POST 44 AND BELINGTON POST 96 BOTH HAVE MEMBERS TRAINED AND CERTIFIED TO ASSIST THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE IN FUNERAL HONORS. MAKE SURE YOU INFORM YOUR FUNERAL DIRECTOR IF YOU WISH TO HAVE THE AMERICAN LEGION PARTICIPATE IN SALUTING YOUR LOVED ONE." NOTE WE WILL NOT FOLD THE FLAG ON THE CASKET AS THE OLD PROVIDERS DID. WE WILL NOT DISGRACE THE VETERAN OR INSULT THE FAMILY IN THIS MANNER"
A BUGLER PERFORMS TAPS AT MEMORIAL DAY
CEREMONIES AT MT.VERNON CEMETERY 2009.
.rebuild
