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> WASHINGTON, June 10, 2004 - The images are imprinted already, with more to

> come.

>

> When President F. Kennedy was assassinated more than 40 years ago,

> television was able to bring the nation together in mourning as it had

never

> been brought together before. For the first time on such a scale, people

could

> see history as it unfolded without having to be there themselves. For

anyone

> who experienced Nov. 22-25, 1963, the memories of the sights and sounds

remain

> vivid.

>

> Now, with exponentially more advanced technology bringing Americans more

> intimately and clearly into the national observance of former President

> Reagan's death, no detail will go undocumented and no distance will

separate

> observers from participants. And among the memories of this unprecedented

week

> will be the customs and rituals of the military honors bestowed upon the

fallen

> commander in chief.

>

> Prominent among these is Reagan's flag-draped casket. The blue field of

the

> flag is placed at the head of the casket, over the left shoulder of the

> deceased. The custom began in the Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th and

early 19th

> centuries, when a flag was used to cover the dead as they were taken from

the

> battlefield on a caisson.

>

> Though all six horses pulling the caisson that bore Reagan's body to the

> Capitol were saddled, the three on the left side had riders, while the

three on

> the right did not. That custom evolved from the days when horse-drawn

caissons

> were the primary means of moving artillery ammunition and cannon, and the

> riderless horses carried provisions.

>

> The single riderless horse that followed the caisson with boots reversed

in the

> stirrups is called the " caparisoned horse " in reference to its ornamental

> coverings, which have a detailed protocol all to themselves. By tradition

in

> military funeral honors, a caparisoned horse follows the casket of an Army

or

> Marine Corps officer who was a colonel or above, or the casket of a

president,

> by virtue of having been the nation's military commander in chief.

>

> The custom is believed to date back to the time of Genghis Khan, when a

horse

> was sacrificed to serve the fallen warrior in the next world. The

caparisoned

> horse later came to symbolize a warrior who would ride no more. Abraham

> Lincoln, who was killed in 1865, was the first U.S. president to be

honored

> with a caparisoned horse at his funeral.

>

> Graveside military honors include the firing of three volleys each by

seven

> service members. This commonly is confused with an entirely separate

honor, the

> 21-gun salute. But the number of individual gun firings in both honors

evolved

> the same way.

>

> The three volleys came from an old battlefield custom. The two warring

sides

> would cease hostilities to clear their dead from the battlefield, and the

> firing of three volleys meant that the dead had been properly cared for

and the

> side was ready to resume the battle.

>

> The 21-gun salute traces its roots to the Anglo-Saxon empire, when seven

guns

> constituted a recognized naval salute, as most naval vessels had seven

guns.

> Because gunpowder in those days could be more easily stored on land than

at

> sea, guns on land could fire three rounds for every one that could be

fired by

> a ship at sea.

>

> Later, as gunpowder and storage methods improved, salutes at sea also

began

> using 21 guns. The United States at first used one round for each state,

> attaining the 21-gun salute by 1818. The nation reduced its salute to 21

guns

> in 1841, and formally adopted the 21-gun salute at the suggestion of the

> British in 1875.

>

> Arlington National Cemetery follows an " order of arms " protocol to

determine

> the number of guns to be used in a salute. A president, ex-president or

foreign

> head of state is saluted with 21 guns. A vice president, prime minister,

> secretary of defense or secretary of the Army receives a 19-gun salute.

Flag

> officers receive salutes of 11 to 17 guns, depending on their rank. The

rounds

> are fired one at a time.

>

> A U.S. presidential death also involves other ceremonial gun salutes and

> military traditions. On the day after the death of the president, a former

> president or president-elect -- unless this day falls on a Sunday or

holiday,

> in which case the honor will rendered the following day -- the commanders

of

> Army installations with the necessary personnel and material traditionally

> order that one gun be fired every half hour, beginning at reveille and

ending

> at retreat.

>

> On the day of burial, a 21-minute gun salute traditionally is fired

starting at

> noon at all military installations with the necessary personnel and

material.

> Guns will be fired at one-minute intervals. Also on the day of burial,

those

> installations will fire a 50-gun salute -- one round for each state -- at

five-

> second intervals immediately following lowering of the flag.

>

> The playing of " Ruffles and Flourishes " announces the arrival of a flag

officer

> or other dignitary of honor. Drums play the ruffles, and bugles play the

> flourishes - one flourish for each star of the flag officer's rank or as

> appropriate for the honoree's position or title. Four flourishes is the

highest

> honor.

>

> When played for a president, " Ruffles and Flourishes " is followed by " Hail

to

> the Chief, " which is believed to have been written in England in 1810 or

1811

> by on for a play by Sir Walter called " The Lady of the

> Lake. " The play began to be performed in the United States in 1812, the

song

> became popular, and it became a favorite of bands at festive events. It

evolved

> to be used as a greeting for important visitors, and eventually for the

> president, though no record exists of when it was first put to that use.

>

> The bugle call " Taps " originated in the Civil War with the Army of the

Potomac.

> Union Army Brig. Gen. Butterfield didn't like the bugle call that

> signaled soldiers in the camp to put out the lights and go to sleep, and

worked

> out the melody of " Taps " with his brigade bugler, Pvt. Oliver Wilcox

Norton.

> The call later came into another use as a figurative call to the sleep of

death

> for soldiers.

>

> Another military honor dates back only to the 20th century. The

missing-man

> formation usually is a four-aircraft formation with the No. 3 aircraft

either

> missing or performing a pull-up maneuver and leaving the formation to

signify a

> lost comrade in arms. F-15 Strike Eagles from the 4th Fighter Wing,

Seymour

> Air Force Base, N.C., performed the maneuver in Reagan's honor

during

> the caisson procession to the Capitol June 9.

>

> Reagan will be buried with full military honors at his presidential

library in

> Simi Valley Calif., June 11.

>

> (Information from Web pages of the Military District of Washington and

> Arlington National Cemetery was used in this article.)

>

> Related Sites:

> " Honoring President

> Reagan " [/specials/reagan/index.html]

> Military

> Involvement in the State Funeral of Former President Reagan

[http://199.231.147.241/general/military_involvement.html]

> Index of Fact Sheets,

> Military District of Washington

[http://www.mdw.army.mil/fs-directory.html]

> Military District of

> Washington [http://www.mdw.army.mil/index.html]

> Arlington National Cemetery [http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/]

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>

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