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Military Salute Project :: Reference Desk :: Military and Veterans Protocol :: Military Funeral Rifle Salute Shell Casings Author Topic: Military Funeral Rifle Salute Shell Casings (Read 15,074 times) Moderator Administrator member is offline Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 255 Location: Woodbury, MN Military Funeral Rifle Salute Shell Casings « Thread Started on Jul 5, 2007, 11:57am » Placing spent shell casings into a fold, or folds, of a Military Funeral Flag violates provisions of the U.S. Flag Code as well as several Military Funeral Honors Directives. The Funeral Flag is usually lifted from the coffin and folded during, or immediately following, the 3-volley rifle salute and the sounding of Taps. If shell casings are inserted into the Flag while it is being folded for presentation to the Primary Next-Of-Kin (PNOK), then the casings obviously CANNOT be from that particular Veteran's or Servicemember's Funeral Honors ceremony. In addition, inserting shell casings into a Military Funeral Flag requires that the Flag be "opened" to retrieve the casings. A Military Funeral Flag should NEVER be opened again after it has been folded and presented to the PNOK. The proper procedure for presenting spent shell casings to the PNOK is as follows ... Three spent shell casings, one from each of the three volleys, should be retrieved from the ground after the casings have cooled. Usually, the Rifle Squad Detail Leader retrieves the shells while those in attendance are focusing their attention on the Funeral Flag presentation to the PNOK. The three casings are then presented separately to the PNOK after the ceremony has concluded, but before the PNOK leaves the cemetery. The casings can be presented "loose" or they can be placed into a display box. The remaining shell casings can be presented separately to the PNOK so that he/she can distribute them to family or friends. The three spent shell casings represent Duty, Honor, Country. Funeral Flag display cases and shell casing display boxes are available for purchase from a number of providers. Display cases and boxes usually have a area on the lower front that is intended for an engraved plaque that can be added later. If the Funeral Flag and the shell casings are publicly displayed after the funeral, the box holding the shell casings should be positioned to the immediate left (the viewer's right), or directly in front of (but not "on"), the display case holding the Funeral Flag. « Last Edit: Jul 5, 2007, 12:01pm by Moderator » Link to Post - Back to Top   Logged Forum Jump--------------------» Home--------------------» Reference Desk--------------------- The Flag of the United States of America- Military and Veterans Protocol- Military and Veterans Tributes- Roll Call of Minnesota's Fallen- Military and Veterans Memorials in Minnesota- National and State Cemeteries in Minnesota- The Library--------------------» About Us--------------------- History of the Military Salute Project- Legal and Contact information