Etiquette of Veterans at Sporting Events

[Number1_dog]

In January 2008 President Bush signed into law section 594 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008.

Section 594 -
Allows members and veterans who are present but not in uniform during the hoisting, lowering, or passing of the flag to render the military salute.

My question is what about during the singing of the National Anthem at Sporting Events, would this allow Veterans to salute. I believe that this is in keeping with the spirit of the law?

thank you,
dog

[Robin Hickman]

Hello, Number1_Dog !

Welcome to the USA-Flag-Site Forums !


QUOTE : "My question is what about during the singing of the National Anthem at Sporting Events, would this allow Veterans to salute. I believe that this is in keeping with the spirit of the law?"


I believe that it would, and I am going to assume that when you said "singing" you meant singing AND playing the National Anthem.

I looked all over but I did NOT find anything definitive about what Veterans "should", or at least "may", do during the National Anthem. Let's see what the United States Code (USC) says about conduct during the playing of the National Anthem, as follows :

UNITED STATES CODE -

TITLE 36 - PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL OBSERVANCES, CEREMONIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS

Subtitle I - Patriotic and National Observances and Ceremonies

Part A - Observances and Ceremonies


CHAPTER 3 - NATIONAL ANTHEM, MOTTO, FLORAL EMBLEM, MARCH, AND TREE.

Section 301. National anthem.

36 USC Sec. 301 [ 01/03/2007 ]

Sec. 301. National anthem

-STATUTE-

(a) Designation. - The composition consisting of the words and music known as the Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem.

(b) Conduct During Playing. - During a rendition of the national anthem -

(1) when the flag is displayed -

(A) all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart;
(B) men not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold the headdress at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart; and
(C) individuals in uniform should give the military salute at the first note of the anthem and maintain that position until the last note; and

(2) when the flag is not displayed, all present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed.


The latest revision of this section of the USC that I found was dated 1-03-2007, a full year BEFORE the "section 594 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008." that you quoted.

While the conduct of VETERANS during the playing of the National Anthem is not specifically mentioned in Title 36, Chapter 3, Section 301 of the USC, I would think that allowing VETERANS to render a military hand salute to the U.S. Flag would, at the very least, be in keeping with the SPIRIT of the law.


That is just MY opinion and I'm sure there are others.


Soooooooo..... What do YOU think ???


Anyway, Thank You for bringing that question to our forum !


Robin Hickman

[Peter Ansoff]

Hi, Number1_Dog!

Check out the thread called "Veterans Salute Protocols" in the "Other Flag Etiquette" section of the forum." There's a detailed discussion there of this topic.

The bottom line is that Congress did a rather sloppy job when they drafted that part of the DAA in 2008. Basically, they didn't realize that there are three different parts of the US Code dealing with saluting. They changed one of them to allow veterans in civilian clothes to give use the military salute when the flag is raised or lowered, but they forgot about the sections dealing the the pledge and the national anthem. Theoretically, the old rules still apply in the latter two cases.

Peter Ansoff

[Robin Hickman]

Quick "follow-up"...

QUOTE Peter Ansoff : Check out the thread called "Veterans Salute Protocols" in the "Other Flag Etiquette" section of the forum." There's a detailed discussion there of this topic.

The thread called "Veterans Salute Protocols" in the "Other Flag Etiquette" section that Peter Ansoff mentioned can be found HERE :

http://www.usa-flag-site.org/forum/veterans-salute-protocols-3026.html


Which also explains why I couldn't find anything newer than January, 2007 on the subject!

Robin Hickman

PS. Number1_Dog! Since your question about Veterans conduct during the singing/playing of the National Anthem referred to the "spirit of the law", rather than the "letter of the law", my opinion is that it DOES meet the "spirit of the law". DO read the "Veterans Salute Protocols" referenced above!