Military honors for funerals are usually arranged and handled by the funeral director. The core elements of the funeral honors ceremony, which will be conducted on request, include a minimum two-person detail, flag folding, flag presentation, and playing of Taps, which may be from a recording. The veteran’s parent service representative will present the flag. Military Funeral Honors are provided by the Department of Defense at no cost to the family. The military service request at least 48 hours advance notice in order to organize the funeral honors detail.

Who is eligible for Military Funeral Honors?

The following people are eligible:

• Military members on active duty or in the Selected Reserve
• Former military members who served on active duty and departed under conditions other than dishonorable
• Former military members who completed at least one term of enlistment or period of initial obligated service in the Selected Reserve and departed under conditions other than dishonorable
• Former military members discharged from the Selected Reserve due to a disability incurred or aggravated in the line of duty.

The preferred method to establish eligibility is to provide the member’s DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty.  If that is not available, any discharge document showing honorable service can be used. ​​

This information last reviewed: Nov 9, 2021