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Meaning of the 13 folds of the American Flag.
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The 21 Gun Salute
Nearly all reliable resources agree on one thing. The meaning is not the adding of the digits in the year "1776", since the origin dates back much earlier in history.
For a reliable meaning, read the article posted in the Sept., 2009 newsletter.
However, when you are finished reading the meaning of "The 21 Gun Salute", please come back to this page and learn about the meaning of the "3 volleys".
At military funerals, one often sees (or hears) 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 given the three rifle volleys, subject to the availability of honor guard teams. As I 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 one being 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).
The three volleys comes from an old battlefield custom. The two warring sides would cease hostilities to clear their dead from the battlefield, and the firing of three volleys meant that the dead had been properly cared for and the side was ready to resume the battle.
The flag detail often slips three shell-casings into the folded flag before presenting the flag to the family. Each casing represents one volley.
Much of the above information compiled from the Naval Historical Society and the Army Center of Military History.
Additional resources: Arlington Cemetary, Snopes & Truth or Fiction
Webmaster's note: I would like to thank Mel for adding the article about the 21 Gun Salute to the newsletter. Also, thanks to Tom Varmette for submitting the article.
The true meaning is something that everyone should know, and something that I have done extensive research on.
It was through that search that I discovered a couple of meanings of the "3 volleys".
The other meaning was something about scaring evil away from the grave, but I like the one above better.
So, I think about only one thing when I hear those shots being fired:
This hero, who has passed on, has been properly cared for!