Talk:Military funeral

2007 comment
It is a common misconception that Law enforcement and Firefighting personnel get military funerals. This is not true. Law Enforcement and Firfighters are Cilivian Public Service organizations. Even though Law Enforcement and Firefighter personnel sometimes have military style haircuts, wear military style uniforms, and for Law Enforcement, sometimes carry military style weapons for special purposes, and may wish that they were military, they are not. A Military Funeral is reserved exclusively for current and former military personnel that has served their country in the Armed Forces and qualify for it. The Law Enforcement and Firefighting community has copied the military funeral style of service on their own. "Taps" is exclusively a military honor. That is why "Amazing Grace" was adopted by the Law Enforcement and Firefighting communities to be played at the funerals of their fallen comrades (usually on the Bagpipes). Unless the fallen Law Enforcement officer or Firefighter was also current or former military and qualified for the honor, "Taps" should not be played. The Law Enforcement and Firefighting communities have copied the Military Funeral style ceremony, and as long as they wear their respective civilian public service uniforms while performing the ceremony, that is fine. But "Taps" should not be played unless the Law Enforcement Officer or Firefighter was also former military in a capacity that qualified them for that honor. 216.78.39.81 21:34, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

3 brass casing missing in your article
inserted in the flag prior to giving it to the next of kin. Shined before the service, inserted if the solder saw combat, is what I have been told. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.64.176.178 (talk) 12:36, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

We do this in my Active Duty Army unit, however there is no regulation for it, and command normally does not sanction it. On the 12.5th fold we place 3 fired cases. If the Soldier died in combat, we use special "kill rounds" brought back from the Soldier's theater of operation to symbolize the Soldier is worth no less than three dead enemy.Micahhiggs (talk) 02:42, 8 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Do you have an online source and reference for this information? It would be great to add it to the article.Yoganate79 (talk) 03:06, 8 November 2011 (UTC)


 * The last combat casualty I folded for was SPC Spencer Duncan at Fort Leavenworth. I don't think the media got close enough to see us place the three rounds. Maybe google will turn up something not original research. :-( Micahhiggs (talk) 03:53, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

Would this count? Not really a good referance. Read about 3/4th the way down. http://usmilitary.about.com/od/theorderlyroom/f/funeralhonors.htm Micahhiggs (talk) 03:58, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

Same here. http://www.byron.org/VFW/HonorGuard.htm. Micahhiggs (talk) 04:01, 8 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Okay, the information with your two references have been added to the article. Thank you for bringing this to attention.Yoganate79 (talk) 04:20, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

Full-honors Funeral
There's been some confusion on other wiki pages (Audie Murphy) about the term "Full-honors Funeral". This term is an official designation. — Gouveia2 (talk) 20:14, 11 March 2008 (UTC)


 * In which case, is there a ‘half-honors’ funeral, or any fraction thereof? One sees the term ‘buried with full military honors’ so often that the word ‘full’ seems redundant. Is there no other category of military funeral? 2001:44B8:3102:BB00:C177:F064:FC87:AACD (talk) 01:12, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

Manfred von Richthofen = Example?
Could Manfred von Richthofen work as an source for "On occasion, deceased soldiers have been accorded military funerals by their enemies"? --SakJur (talk) 18:53, 11 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Instead of citing it, I would suggest adding a parenthetical comment, (for example see Manfred von Richthofen), Sadads (talk) 21:20, 11 July 2010 (UTC)
 * As no-one have objected, I added the reference) — Preceding unsigned comment added by SakJur (talk • contribs) 12:48, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

World-wide military funerals
Being that I am from the U.S., I am not knowledgeable about military funeral customs in other countries around the world. Clearly, I cannot edit in that section. With that said, I believe that the World-wide section of this article needs to be expanded. A better elaboration of military funerals in Commonwealth countries (Britain, Australia, Canada, etc.) would be beneficial as well. But like I said, I am an American, so I am no expert on customs in other countries unless I do my own research. Is anybody willing to add any input or thoughts?Yoganate79 (talk) 06:34, 12 September 2010 (UTC)


 * I moved the bulk of US material to Military funerals in the United States. Bmclaughlin9 (talk) 16:26, 7 August 2012 (UTC)


 * Thank you for recording that here. I just updated the main article link for that section, but before I found your comment, I was having some difficulty figuring out what happened to it.  Cilencia (talk) 01:23, 31 July 2013 (UTC)

Ramp Ceremony - definition expanding?
That section of the article says "The ceremony usually takes place at an airfield near or in a war zone". Here in Australia that meaning exists, but it seems to have extended to ceremonies taking place back in Australia as well. Here is an example. I've heard it used that way in news broadcasts as well. Is this unique to Australia, or more widespread? HiLo48 (talk) 02:40, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

Flag Presentation Wording
The cited wording for each service is not necessarily correct, in that not each service is required to reference the President of the United States in the flag presentation. The Army’s field manual on drills and ceremonies (FM 3-21.5) does not specifically mention referencing the president during the presentation. See the article (and cited sources) at http://www.factcheck.org/2011/10/change-in-military-funeral-protocol/.

98.183.142.180 (talk) 16:46, 26 October 2011 (UTC)George Reynolds, LTC, USAR (Ret.) pathfinder027@hotmail.com

In my Active Duty Army unit we say "Sir/Ma’am, this flag is presented on behalf of a grateful nation as an expression of appreciation for the honorable and faithful service rendered by your loved one" as it is concise, easy to say without emotion, and has been the tradition of our unit since WWII. However the FM 3-21.5 chap 14-6 part d (also 14-5q)reads "After the assistant departs, the detail leader presents the flag to the next of kin using the following wording: “As a representative of the United States Army, it is my high privilege to present to you this flag. Let it be a symbol of the grateful appreciation our nation feels for the distinguished service rendered to our country and our flag by your loved one.” After presenting the flag, the detail leader offers condolences." Micahhiggs (talk) 02:30, 8 November 2011 (UTC)


 * I trust those issues have now been resolved on the page Military funerals in the United States. At the time of the foregoing comments, there was no standardized verbiage in the United States.  Cilencia (talk) 01:33, 31 July 2013 (UTC)