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Military Funeral?

11echo
Well I helped bury my friend yesterday, kind of tuff saying goodbye to a friend that knows you better then your wife or mother. I had a surprise during his funeral. It was a semi-military funeral conducted by the VFW, my friend was a Viet Nam Vet. They fired a volley, but only 9 rounds! .Not 21 as I suspected, then they gathered up the brass and placed it in a fancy block of wood with a brass plate indicating what they were from. This was presented to the family right after the flag presentation. All kind of interesting, but the 9 rounds has me stumped? Anybody got an explanation?
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12 comments

Date Votes
  • bobski
    21 gun salute equals 7 guns firing 3 each. they must have been under issued.
    or, there were only 3 guns in the squad because of low participation.
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  • watrulookinat
    Very sorry for your loss... of a dear friend.
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  • BT3
    My guess is that they only had 3 rifles firing 3 volleys. They (VFW), more likely than not, went with the number of people they could get to preform the service. We sometimes only have 4, 5 or 6 riflemen even though we try and get 7. We fire 3 volleys reguardless of how many rifles we have. Sorry to hear of your loss. He was indeed one of my Brothers even though I didn;t know him.
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  • Old-Colts
    I found this explanation at a Military Website:

    "At military funerals, one often sees three volleys of shots fired in honor of the deceased veteran. This is often mistaken by the laymen as a 21-gun salute, although it is entirely different (in the military, a "gun" is a large-calibered weapon. The three volleys are fired from "rifles," not "guns." Therefore, the three volleys isn't any kind of "gun salute," at all)."

    "Anyone who is entitled to a military funeral (generally anyone who dies on active duty, honorably discharged veterans, and military retirees) are to the three rifle volleys, subject to availability of honor guard teams. As said, this is not a 21-gun salute, nor any other type of "gun salute." They are simply three rifle volleys fired. The firing team can consist of any number, but one usually sees a team of eight, with a noncommissioned officer in charge of the firing detail. Whether the team consists of three or eight, or ten, each member fires three times (three volleys)."
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  • PATBUZZARD
    In that case, for my funeral, I want as many riflemen as possible!!
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  • 11echo
    This 3 rifle thing was planned I think because of the presentation wood block that held the empties was only for 9 cases. So for what ever reason that VFW team did it on purpose. AND they did a good job too, don't want to take anything from their efforts here, I think my friend would have approved!
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  • kimi
    I'm sorry to hear about your friend's passing. I know that such an event is not an easy thing to shoulder.

    Shots fired by rifle details at the passing of veterans might not be viewed as a salute per regulations, however, the long custom associated with this ceremony is such a distinct part of the saluting aspect of the funeral that it is easy to understand why people would view the event as a gun-salute. A well deserved gun-salute at that. As a matter of fact, the existing regulations that govern such activity could be re-written to be in line with customary thought, this without a loss or disregard for the origin and its meaning.
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  • TrinityScrimshaw
    11echo,

    Sorry to hear of your loss.

    The three volleys is correct, not the 21 gun salute.

    I have also seen the spent brass folded up in the corner of the folded flag, and then presented to the next of kin.

    Trinity +++
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  • Joe Drees
    At the funerals I did we would tuck one casing into the flag. Forgot what that represented. Been a few years since I did one...
    Speaking of funerals. A guy in my reserve center is an independant draftsman. He has done two plus funerals a week for the past nine years. They wrote on artical in the local paper a few days ago.
    http://www.sheboygan-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007712020333
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  • Gibbs505
    God rest your friend.
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  • Zebra
    Sorry to hear about your friend. My Father told me years ago that the 21 gun salute stands for the year our country was born
    1776 (add the digits)
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  • JamesRK
    11echo, I'm sorry to hear of your loss. I'm glad to hear the VFW was able to show him the respect he was entitled to.

    It's traditional to fold three of the fired brass into the flag. One to represent each of the three volleys. The block of wood sounds like a nice touch.
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