[Vision2020] Military Funeral Customs

[Tom Hansen]

Excellent post, Mr. Schmidt.

 

I would like to follow up his posting with the words of Donovan's (the
singer) "Universal Soldier", the Sunshine Superman himself:

 

"He is five foot two,

anbd he's six feet four,

he fights with missiles and with spears,

he is all of thirty-one,

and he's only a seventeen,

's been a soldier for thousands years.

 

He's a Catolic, a Hindy,

an atheist, A Chein,

A Buddhist, a Baptist and a Jew,

and he knows, he shouldn't kill,

and he knows, he always will,

care for me, my friend, and I will care for you.

 

And he's fighting for Canada,

he's fighting for France,

he's fighting for the USA

and he's fighting for the Russains,

he's fihgting for Japan,

and he thinks we put an end to war this way.

 

And he's fighting for democrazy,

he's fighting for the Reds,

he says it's for the peace of all,

he's the one who must decide,

who's to live and who's to die,

and he never sees the writing on the wall.

 

And without him, how would Hitler

kill the people at Dachau,

without him Cesar would have stood alone,

he's the one, who gives his body

as a weapon of the war,

and without him always killing cant gho on.

 

He's the universal soldier,

and he really is to blame,

his orders came from far away, no more,

they came from here and there,

and you and me ain't brothers,

can't you see,

this is not the way we put an end to war."

 

Take care, Moscow.

 

Tom Hansen

Moscow, Idaho

 

We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are
dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all
exist very nicely in the same box. 

  _____  

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Dick Schmidt
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2005 9:47 AM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Military Funeral Customs

 

Memorial day is May 30 and would like to share with you some military
customs I hope you find interesting. Let us not forget those who gave their
all for our freedom.

 

Dick Schmidt

 

 


Military Funeral Customs


The practice of draping the casket with the national flag: 


This custom began during the Napoleonic Wars (1796-1815). The dead carried
from the field of battle on a caisson were covered with flags. When the U.S.
flag covers the casket, it is placed so the union blue field is at the head
and over the left shoulder. It is not placed in the grave and is not allowed
to touch the ground.


Flags for military funerals: 


Flags are provided for burial services of service members and veterans. The
flag for one who dies on active duty is provided by one's branch of service.
Flags for other veterans are provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.


The flag is presented to the next of kin at the end of the funeral, usually
by the military chaplain. If there is no next of kin present, the flag may
be presented to the veteran's close friend or associate if requested. 

The flags that draped the caskets of the Unknown Soldiers are on display in
the Memorial Display Room of the Memorial Amphitheater. 


The practice of firing cannon salutes: 


The custom of firing cannon salutes originated in the British Navy. When a
cannon was fired, it partially disarmed the ship. Therefore, firing a cannon
in salute symbolizes respect and trust. 


The practice of firing three rifle volleys over the grave: 


This practice originated in the old custom of halting the fighting to remove
the dead from the battlefield. Once each army had cleared its dead, it would
fire three volleys to indicate that the dead had been cared for and that
they were ready to go back to the fight. The fact that the firing party
consists of seven riflemen, firing three volleys does not constitute a
21-gun salute. 


21-Gun salute: 


All personal salutes may be traced to the prevailing use in earlier days to
ensure that the saluter placed himself in an unarmed position. Salute by
gunfire is a most-ancient ceremony. The British for years compelled weaker
nations to make the first salute, but in time international practice
compelled "Gun for Gun" in the principle of an equality of nations. 

In the earliest days, seven guns was a recognized British National Salute.
Those early regulations stated that, although a ship could fire only seven
guns, the forts could fire for honors three shots to one shot afloat. In
that day powder of sodium nitrate was easier to keep on shore than at sea.
In time, when the quality of gun powder improved by the use of potassium
nitrate, the sea salute was made equal to the shore salute - 21 guns as the
highest national honor. Although for a period of time, monarchies received
more guns than republics, eventually republics claimed equality. 

There was much confusion caused by the varying customs of maritime states,
but finally the British government proposed to the United States a
regulation that provided for "Salute to be Returned Gun for Gun." The
British at that time officially considered the international salute to be 21
guns and the United States adopted the 21-gun and "Gun for Gun Return" Aug.
17, 1875. Previous to that time, our national salute was one gun for each
state. The practice was also a result of usage - John Paul Jones saluted
France with 13 guns (one for each state) at Quiberon Bay when the Stars and
Stripes received its first salute. This practice was not authorized until
1810. 

By the admission of states to the Union, the salute reached 21 guns by 1818.
In 1841, the national salute was reduced to 21 guns. In fact, the 1875
adoption of the British suggestion because a formal announcement that the
United States recognized 21 guns as an international salute. 


"Taps": 


"Taps" is an American call, composed by the Union Army's Brig. Gen. Daniel
Butterfield while in camp at Harrison's Landing, Va., in 1862. Butterfield
wrote the call to replace the earlier "Tattoo" (lights out), which he
thought too formal. The call soon became known as "Taps," because it was
often tapped out on a drum in the absence of a bugler. Before the year was
out, sounding Taps became the practice in Northern and Southern camps. The
call was officially adopted by the U.S. Army in 1874. 

Col. James A. Moss, in his Officer's Manual first published in 1911, gives
this account of the initial use of Taps at a military funeral: 

"During the Peninsular Campaign in 1862, a soldier of Tidball's Battery A of
the 2nd Artillery was buried at a time when the battery occupied an advanced
position concealed in the woods. It was unsafe to fire the customary three
volleys over the grave, on account of the proximity of the enemy, and it
occurred to Capt. Tidball that the sounding of Taps would be the most
appropriate ceremony that could be substituted. The custom, thus originated,
was taken up throughout the Army of the Potomac and finally confirmed by
orders." 

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