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Pr
epared for Members and Committees of Congress

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This report is written in response to frequently asked questions about military funeral honors and
military cemeteries. It provides information on the eligibility criteria, required components of the
honor detail, and the funeral ceremony. It also cites legislation that mandates that the Department
of Defense (DOD) make military funeral honors available to every eligible veteran upon request.
This report will be updated as needed. For related reading, see CRS Report RL32769, Military
Death Benefits: Status and Proposals, by David F. Burrelli and Jennifer R. Corwell.
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What Are Military Funeral Honors?................................................................................................ 1
What Legislation Provides for the Implementation of the Current Military Funeral
Honors Program?.......................................................................................................................... 1
What Agency Is Responsible for Administering the Military Funeral Honors Program? ............... 1
Who Is Eligible for Military Funeral Honors? ................................................................................ 1
Who Is Ineligible for Military Funeral Honors?.............................................................................. 2
What Is the Required Composition of a Military Funeral Honors Detail?...................................... 2
Who Is Responsible for Making the Arrangements for Honors to Be Performed? ......................... 3
Are Members of the Military Honors Detail Paid? ......................................................................... 3
How Many Military Funeral Honors for Veterans Requests Are Supported Only by
Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs)?..................................................................................... 4
What Military Honors Are Afforded to Individuals Interred or Inurned at Arlington
National Cemetery?...................................................................................................................... 4
What are the Available Emblems of Belief for Placement on Government Headstones and
Markers?....................................................................................................................................... 5

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Author Contact Information ............................................................................................................ 5

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The Department of Defense (DOD) defines military funeral honors as the ceremonial paying of
respect and the final demonstration of the country’s gratitude to those who, in times of war and
peace, have faithfully defended our nation. Members of the funeral honors detail fold and present
the American flag to the veteran’s survivor and Taps is sounded.1
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The National Defense Authorization Act for FY2000, P.L. 106-65, as amended, sets out the
requirements for funeral honors and mandates military honors at funerals for all eligible
veterans.2 The originating language can be found in the Strom Thurmond National Defense
Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 1999, H.Rept. 105-736, section 567, “The conferees agree that
men and women who have served honorably, whether in war or peace, deserve commemoration
for their military service at the time of their death by an appropriate tribute. Burial honors are an
important means of reminding Americans of the sacrifices endured to keep the Nation free.”
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The Department of Defense is responsible for providing military honors to eligible veterans.
DOD Instruction 1300.15 updates policy and responsibilities for military funeral support. DOD
has established a website that provides information including eligibility criteria, the text of
relevant legislation, information for funeral directors, and related links, at
http://www.militaryfuneralhonors.osd.mil. Questions or comments regarding the program can be
addressed to Military Funeral Honors, 10100 Reunion Place, Suite 260, San Antonio, TX 78216-
4138.
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Military members in the following categories are eligible for military funeral honors: military
personnel on active duty; former military members who served on active duty and were
discharged under conditions other than dishonorable (as described below); members of the
Selected Reserve; former members of the Selected Reserve who served at least one term of
enlistment or period of initial obligated service and were discharged under conditions other than

1 Department of Defense Instruction 1300.15, “Military Funeral Support,” October 22, 2007, at http://www.dtic.mil/
whs/directives/corres/pdf/130015p.pdf.
2 10 U.S.C. 1491.
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dishonorable; and former members of the Selected Reserve who were discharged due to a service-
related disability.3
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Veterans are ineligible if convicted of a capital offense (as defined in the National Defense
Authorization Act for FY2006, P.L. 109-163, section 662), or when the circumstances involved
would bring discredit upon the person’s service or former service. Veterans are also ineligible if
they were discharged from the military under dishonorable conditions. These conditions include
dishonorable discharge, bad conduct discharge, dismissal from the service awarded by court-
martial, other than honorable conditions discharge, and for officers who resign for the good of the
service in lieu of courts-martial, which results in a discharge characterization of other than
honorable conditions.
P.L. 109-163 (section 662) modified titles 10 and 38 of the U.S. Code, to expand the prohibition
against the interment of anyone in a national cemetery, as well as the use of military honors, for
anyone convicted of a capital offense (as defined), or when the circumstances involved would
bring discredit upon the person’s service or former service. This language expands upon P.L. 105-
116 that Congress passed in 1997. That law barred those convicted of capital crimes from being
buried in a national cemetery. The 1997 law was ostensibly passed to prevent the possibility of
Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, a veteran, from being buried at Arlington National
Cemetery. McVeigh was put to death on June 11, 2001.
Section 404 of P.L. 109-461 required the removal of Russell Wayne Wagner’s remains from the
columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery. An honorably discharged Vietnam veteran, Wagner
was convicted of killing an elderly Maryland couple in 1994. Wagner died in 2005 while serving
two life terms in prison. Because he was eligible for parole, he qualified for burial at Arlington.
Following protests from the murdered couple’s son, language was included in the Veterans
Benefits, Health Care and Information Technology Act of 2006, P.L. 109-461, requiring the
removal of Wagner’s remains. The Superintendent of the Arlington Cemetery reported that the
cremated remains of Russell Wayne Wagner have been removed from Arlington National
Cemetery and turned over to his sister.4
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The military services operate under service-specific policies; the honors vary from service to
service and are dependent upon available resources. At the minimum, a funeral honors detail

3 According to CRS Report RL30802, Reserve Component Personnel Issues: Questions and Answers, by Lawrence
Kapp, “The Selected Reserve contains units and individuals most essential to wartime missions, in accordance with the
national security strategy. They have priority over other reservists for training and equipment. Members of the Selected
Reserve are generally required to perform one weekend of training each month (‘inactive duty for training’ or IDT, also
known as ‘weekend drill’) and two weeks of training each year (‘annual training’ or AT, sometimes known colloquially
as ‘summer camp’) for which they receive pay and benefits.”
4 Document available at http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/rwwagner.htm.
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consists of two members of the Armed Forces, at least one of which is a member of the veteran’s
military service.
Funeral honors details may be augmented with volunteers who are military veterans and who are
members of veterans’ service organizations, such as the American Legion and the Veterans of
Foreign Wars, or other appropriate organizations. The Authorized Provider Partnership Program
(AP3) was established to provide training for these volunteers to standardize the quality of the
honors rendered. Volunteers can participate as firing party members, pallbearers, and buglers,
among other duties. When a trained bugler is not available, a recorded version of Taps may be
played. DOD also approved the use of a ceremonial bugle, which contains a device in the bell of
the bugle that plays a recorded version of Taps.
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Honors are not performed automatically; they must be requested. Families of eligible veterans
must request funeral honors through their funeral director. The funeral director is to contact the
appropriate military service to arrange for the funeral honors detail.
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Members of the Ready Reserve5 or retired military personnel who are part of a military funeral
detail may receive pay, allowances, travel, and transportation reimbursements.6 Ready Reserve
personnel may also receive service credit for performing this duty.7 Survivors are not charged for
these services.
Section 571 of P.L. 107-314, the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for FY2003,
enacted December 2, 2002, provides for a flat rate daily stipend for members of the funeral
honors detail who are not active duty military personnel. The daily stipend for FY2008 is $50.
The U.S. Code provides at 10 U.S.C. 1491(d) (1) that to support a funeral honors detail under this
section, the Secretary of a military department may provide the following:
(A) For a person who participates in a funeral honors detail (other than a person who is a member
of the armed forces not in a retired status or an employee of the United States), either
transportation (or reimbursement for transportation) and expenses or the daily stipend prescribed
under paragraph (2).
(B) For members of a veterans organization or other organization referred to in subsection (b)(2)
and for members of the armed forces in a retired status, materiel, equipment, and training.

5 According to CRS Report RL30802, Reserve Component Personnel Issues: Questions and Answers, by Lawrence
Kapp, “The Ready Reserve is the primary manpower pool of the reserve components. Members of the Ready Reserve
will usually be called to active duty before members of the Standby Reserve or the Retired Reserve. The Ready
Reserve is made up of the Selected Reserve, the Individual Ready Reserve, and the Inactive National Guard.”
6 37 U.S.C. 435.
7 10 U.S.C. 12732(a)(2)(E).
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(C) For members of a veterans organization or other organization referred to in subsection (b)(2),
articles of clothing that, as determined by the Secretary concerned, are appropriate as a civilian
uniform for persons participating in a funeral honors detail. Volunteers seeking reimbursement
should complete DOD Standard Form 1164 and submit it to the unit with which they are
volunteering.
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DOD officials stated that the military, in accordance with the law, provides military personnel in
every instance in which the eligible survivors have requested such honors. Defense officials note,
however, that in some instances, funeral directors contact VSOs for such services with or without
seeking military personnel assistance. It is not possible to know how often this occurs. Financial
or other assistance (such as transportation, a stipend or reimbursement for expenses) from the
military for VSO services may be provided by a nearby military unit. This assistance comes from
that unit’s funds. In some instances, state governments have provided assistance or benefits to
VSOs who perform these services.8
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Eligibility criteria for interment or inurnment can be obtained from the Arlington National
Cemetery Website at http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org, or from the Interment Services Branch at
(703) 607-8585. Once eligibility is determined, honors are afforded according to rank. Enlisted
personnel receive standard honors and a firing party. Commissioned and warrant officers receive
standard honors, a firing party, and may request the caisson and escort troops. Those individuals
who are eligible for inurnment in the columbarium receive the standard honors and a firing party.
All may request a military chaplain to preside over the services. Effective January 1, 2009, all
service members who die from wounds received as a result of enemy action and are being
interred, inurned, or memorialized at Arlington National Cemetery are eligible to receive full
military funeral honors.
Additional details are available at http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/funeral_information/
guide.atneed.html#honors.

8 In consultation with David F. Burrelli, CRS Specialist in National Defense, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade
Division on February 5, 2008.
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A current list of the approved emblems of belief can be found on the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs Website at http://www.cem.va.gov/cem/hm/hmemb.asp. A new emblem of belief for
Wicca, the pentacle, was added to the list in 2007.9 According to the website, no graphics (logos,
symbols, etc.) are permitted on government-furnished headstones or markers other than the
approved emblems of belief, the Civil War Union Shield, the Civil War Confederate Southern
Cross of Honor, and the Medal of Honor insignias.

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Mari-Jana "M-J" Oboroceanu

Information Research Specialist
moboroceanu@crs.loc.gov, 7-6329

9 Settlement agreement and stipulation of dismissal in the case of Circle Sanctuary v. Nicholson, U.S. Dist. Ct.,
Western Dist. of Wisconsin, Case No. 06-C-0660-S.
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