The rendering of Military Funeral Honors for an eligible veteran, free of charge, is mandated by law. An honor guard detail for the burial of an eligible veteran shall consist of not less than two members of the Armed Forces. One member of the detail shall be a representative of the parent Service of the deceased veteran. The honor detail will, at a minimum, perform a ceremony that includes the folding and presenting of the American flag to the next of kin and the playing of Taps. When available taps will be played by a bugler, however there are so few buglers available that the military services may choose to provide an electronic recording of taps. The veteran’s parent Service representative will present the flag.

The mission of the Vet 21 Salute Honor Guard is to provide a three salute volley for all our Brothers and Sisters throughout Lancaster County who have honorably served our country.

Commonly referred to as a 21 gun salute this is not in truth what is being done. What is really being done is that a volley of three shots is being fired by each member of the detail. So a firing detail of 7 individuals would equal a 21 shot salute. A six member detail fires a total of 18 shots and so on.

Our goal as members of the Vet 21 Salute Honor Guard is to try and provide this honor to anyone who has been Honorably discharged from the United States Military. It makes no difference to our veterans which branch you served in – Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Merchant Marine. You are all entitled this additional honor and the members of the Vet 21 Salute Honor Guard are here to see that you receive that honor.

The services of the Vet 21 Salute Honor Guard are provided free of charge to the veteran or family and available on a first come first serve basis and we will do our best to honor all requests.