[Molly Abigail]

Hey everybody. I found a song and video on Youtube that just gave me chills. Its called 21 GUNS (Fallen Soldier Song)-Tribute to Fallen Soldiers. I don't see how anyone could watch and listen to this and not be touched by it. I will try to post the link on here, if not just search the title on YouTube and you can find it. Let me know if it touches you like it did me. YouTube - 21 GUNS - "Fallen Soldier Song" by BOBBY BILLINGS -TOUCHING TRIBUTE TO FALLEN SOLDIERS.

[Peter Ansoff]

Hi, Molly -- thanks for posting the link to this moving video!

Unfortunately, the title of the video is based on a (very common) misunderstanding. The firing party at a military funeral does not fire a 21-gun salute -- it fires "three volleys." The actual number of shots fired depends on the number of soldiers in the firing party. The Army regulation on honors and ceremonies (AR 600-25) says:

" . . . the firing party may include 3 to 8 rifle bearers, reflecting the American military custom of firing “three volleys of musketry” over the graves of fallen comrades. This practice of firing 3 volleys originated in the old custom of halting the fighting to remove the dead from the battlefield. Once each army had cleared its dead for the battlefield, it would fire 3 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 7 riflemen, firing 3 volleys does not constitute a 21–gun salute."

A real 21-gun salute is fired with cannons, not rifles. It is used as a greeting to honor the president, the flag, and foreign heads of state. There is also a "salute to the Union" which consists of 50 guns (one for each state).

Peter Ansoff