The Honor Guard
conducts full military honors, to include Pallbearers and a Chaplain
when needed. A three (3) volley salute using M-1 rifles, playing of
Taps with a live bugler, and folding and presenting the flag to the
next of kin. At the end of the honors, 21 rounds of brass and the
following card is presented to the veteran's next of kin. The
service is performed free of charge and is self-funded by donations
and monies from members of the VFW. In addition, members of the
honor guard have paid their own expenses, such as gas, food, and
maintaining their uniforms.
The
practice of firing three rifle volleys over the grave originated in
the old custom of halting the fighting to remove the dead from the
battlefield. Once each army had cleared their dead, it would fire
three volleys to indicate that the dead had been cared for and that
they were ready to fight again. The fact that the firing party
consists of seven riflemen, firing these volleys does not constitute
a 21-gun-salute. It is the three volleys that are significant, not
the number of rifles. Three volleys fired over the casket have
become a tradition to mean the dead have been cared for. It has
evolved into a military salute for the deceased serving their
country. Firing the three volleys over the casket is one of the
highest honors to give a deceased military veteran. Our nation’s
highest honor is a flag draped over the casket, folded and
presented. Tradition is to place three spent shell casings inside
the folded flag to prove now and forevermore that the deceased and
his flag have had proper military honors. Nothing else is to be
placed inside the flag.
The
national salute of 21 guns is fired in honor of a national flag, the
soverign or chief of state of a foreign nation, a member of a
reigning royal family, and the President, ex-President, and
President-elect of the United States. It is also fired at noon of
the day of the funeral of a President, ex-President, or
President-elect, on Washington's Birthday, Presidents Day, and the
Fourth of July. On Memorial Day, a salute of 21 minute guns is fired
at noon while the flag is flown at half mast.