Posted on Dec 30, 2015
Why is the three Volley Salute for a funeral called a 21 Gun Salute by so many?
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Why do so many people get this wrong? If veterans don't correct this, then no one will ever get it right. It really annoys me and when I try to explain the difference, no one seems to care. I'll get a blank stare or they say that people won't know what a Three Volley Salute is, they only know it as a 21 Gun Salute. Am I the only person that thinks this should be corrected?
Tradition
Funeral
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 9
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Confusion probably. A 3 Volley salute is comprised of 3-7 rifles, usually odd numbers. If you have 7 rifles times 3 shots, you get 21 reports. That's were it gets confused with a 21 gun salute which is from a battery. Actually 21 guns is for heads of state while lesser number of battery firings denote lower ranked officials.
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SPC Bill Livingston
That is correct, a three volley salute is rifles, a 21 gun salute is cannons and usually for heads of state.
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Actually, as late as 1987, SPC Bill Livingston, when I was the NCOIC for the funeral detail out of Ft. Hood, Texas, we still used seven Riflemen, and 3 volleys. I guess that I pretty much assumed that it was always done this way. Thanks for the heads up.
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SPC Bill Livingston
It's not always 7 rifleman, but I can see how civilians could mistake that. However, military and veterans should know the proper name of the salute and I've found quite a bit of them don't.
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SGT Robert Martin
I was ncoic of the same detail for a month in 1990 at Ft Hood. When given the detail by my squadron CSM I was told to select 9 riflemen and rotate them. The CSM had a great answer for this. These people are laying to rest the most important person on planet earth right or wrong they expect to see seven rifles and hear 21 rounds. You will make sure that they are impressed. There will most likely be retired military personnel, and I'm sure I will only hear how great you and your detail did their duty.
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SPC Bill Livingston Considering that this topic would mostly likely come up in relation to a civilian attending a funeral I'd suggest this is one of those times when it's best to let it slide rather than make a point to correct them. To most civilians a "21 gun salute" is really just a generic term for when the military honors someone by firing weapons. IMO it's OK for civilians to not to be held to the technical standards for military terminology. After all, they're civilians.
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SPC Bill Livingston
I don't expect civilians to know it, but if no one informs them, they'll never learn the correct term. Don't get me wrong, I'm not pushy about it, I'm not that way, and I don't explain it during a funeral unless asked about it.
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