Funerals, Military

Military funerals are funerals for any veteran other than those individuals who left the military with less than an honorable discharge, for soldiers who died on the battlefield, and for other wellknown military figures. Customarily, when the president or prime minister or monarch of a nation dies, he or she receives a military funeral. The funeral ceremonies vary based on the rank of the deceased, with the highest honors going to general officers and high-ranking civilians who supervise the armed forces, such as the secretary of defense or heads of state.

History of Military Funerals and Rituals

While military funerals have been provided for soldiers probably back to the times of the Greek and Roman empires, the military funeral, as it is practiced in the United States, draws its basic elements from the French and British military funerals of the 18th and 19th centuries. For example, the practice of draping the casket with a flag began during the Napoleonic Wars in Europe (1796–1815). The firing of rifles over the gravesite began as a practice of firing rifle volleys during the 18th and 19th centuries that were intended to announce that each side had cleared its dead from the battlefield. [Page 491]The common practice was to fire three volleys to verify that the clearing of bodies was complete.