At the cemetery, the young Marine comes to Elaine and offers to fire his rifle in honor of her son's passing. The young Marine says "I'll fire all 21 [volleys] if you like." This is a violation of military funeral protocol. In the United States, Twenty-One Gun Salutes are reserved for funerals for presidents, ex-presidents, or presidents-elect only. At military funerals for soldiers and sailors, protocol states that a Three-Gun Salute (three volleys) will be performed by the honor guard. A typical honor guard will consist of 7 riflemen and this is often mistaken to be a 21-gun salute (7 rifles being fired three times each. 7 X 3 = 21). Even so, this still is considered a three-gun salute no matter how many rifles are fired. The proper action by the young Marine is to fire three volleys only.
At the cemetery, the young Marine comes to Elaine and offers to fire his rifle in honor of her son's passing. The young Marine says "I'll fire all 21 [volleys] if you like." This would be a violation of military funeral protocol.
In the United States, Twenty-One Gun Salutes are reserved exclusively for funerals for presidents, ex-presidents, or presidents-elect only. At military funerals for soldiers and sailors, protocol states that a Three-Gun Salute (three volleys) will be performed by the honor guard.
A typical honor guard will consist of 7 riflemen and this is often mistaken to be a 21-gun salute (7 rifles being fired three times each. 7 X 3 = 21). Even so, this still is considered a three-gun salute no matter how many rifles are fired.
The proper action by the young Marine would be to fire three volleys only.
In the United States, Twenty-One Gun Salutes are reserved exclusively for funerals for presidents, ex-presidents, or presidents-elect only. At military funerals for soldiers and sailors, protocol states that a Three-Gun Salute (three volleys) will be performed by the honor guard.
A typical honor guard will consist of 7 riflemen and this is often mistaken to be a 21-gun salute (7 rifles being fired three times each. 7 X 3 = 21). Even so, this still is considered a three-gun salute no matter how many rifles are fired.
The proper action by the young Marine would be to fire three volleys only.