# military gun salutes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 7, 2001, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-gun-salutes/80170 "2001-09-07T02:12:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Otadeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/94ad74/32.png) [@Otadeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otadeg)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-gun-salutes/80170/1 "2001-09-07T02:12:56Z")
1.A FOUR GUN SALUTE MAY BE RENDERED BY WHOM? 2.THE PROPER NUMBER OF GUN SLAUTES RENDERED TO A MEMBER OF CONGRESS IS? ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-gun-salutes/80170/2 "2001-09-07T02:22:51Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/m21gun.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/m21gun.html) ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-gun-salutes/80170/3 "2001-09-07T02:25:29Z")
**Nobody thought I knew how to do that kinda stuff, right?** [list][list][list][list]😛 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-gun-salutes/80170/4 "2001-09-07T04:14:45Z")
Here is the U.S. Army’s counterpoint to Ian of the Straight Dope: [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/faq/salute.htm](http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/faq/salute.htm) The U.S. Marine magazine _Leatherneck_ has a list of the numbers fired for military ranks: [http://www.mca-marines.org/Leatherneck/21gunarch.htm](http://www.mca-marines.org/Leatherneck/21gunarch.htm) To get civilian salutes, I had to actually open a _book_! (Since all the military sites noted there were other salutes, but declined to enumerate them.) From Barbara Ann Kipfer’s **The Order of Things** , ©1997, Random House: 21 - President, former President, President-elect, foreign leader, royalty 19 - Vice president, Speaker of the House, cabinet members, Senate president pro tempore, chief justice, ambassador (foreign or U.S.), prime minister, premier, secretary of the Army/Navy/Air Force, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Chief of Naval Operations, & Marine Corps Commandant 17 - generals (4 star), admirals (4 star), Assistant Secretary of the Army/Navy/Air Force, Chairman of a Congressional Committee 15 - foreign envoys or ministers (below ambassador), lieutenant generals, vice admirals 13 - rear admirals (upper half), major generals, resident ministers 11 - brigadier generals, rear admirals (lower half), _charges d’affaires_ (foreign or U.S.), consuls general ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-gun-salutes/80170/5 "2001-09-07T04:20:05Z")
BTW, I have never seen a 4 gun salute: superstion dictates that they come in odd number increments; no salutes go below 9 in number, (11 in the U.S.). _Anyone_ (with the powder and enough pieces of ordnance) may _give_ a salute. Saluting is a sign of respect _to_ someone, and I know of no lower limit of class or rank that forbids one from acknowledging the superiority of another. ---
**Author:** ![GWF\_Hefel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@GWF\_Hefel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GWF_Hefel)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-gun-salutes/80170/6 "2001-09-07T14:02:08Z")
I spent a few minutes looking on the web but could find nothing on salutes of less than 11 volleys. Somewhere in an army manual I’m sure it covers the circumstances for fewer volleys because
 About 15 years ago I unfortunately had to carry the coffin at an army funeral on a frozen hilltop in West Virginia. This was for an active enlisted soldier killed on duty (plane crash outside of Gander). Since there were so many to bury, my infantry battalion was tasked for the duty instead of whomever usually does it. I can’t remember exactly but there was a 3 or 5 gun salute. Afterwards, one of the morbid comments was a sergeant stating the volleys sounded better near the end because he was pretty sure he was the only one still firing (M-16’s and blanks are not very reliable). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-gun-salutes/80170/7 "2001-09-07T15:38:03Z")
Remember, we’re not Homework Help. The OP should be doing the research, not us. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-gun-salutes/80170/8 "2001-09-07T15:47:23Z")
Given that I was unable to find my information on the web, and given that I only found it because I have a fairly extensive print reference library at home, (and given that I have never seen this question asked in school), I am quite willing to risk helping a student on this one. I certainly agree in principle that the appropriate response to a homework question is a gentle guide toward reference tools. However, this question was not “Why are there 21 gun salutes?” which _is_ easily discovered on the web or, possibly, in an encyclopedia.