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Clifford Oto
Clifford Oto, an award-winning photographer, has been with The Record since 1984. Through the changes from black and white to digital photography, he’s kept his focus on covering the events, people and life of San Joaquin county. This blog deals ... Read FullCategories
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15-gun salute
(Camera: Nikon D300. Lens: 70-200mm @ 116mm. Exposure: 1/500th sec. @ f/8. ISO: 200)
At Army specialist Kyle Coumas’s funeral United States Army Honor guard performed a 21-gun salute as well as serving as pall bearers. The gun bearers stood outside the church and waited for their cue to start firing. It was curious, but there were only five of them. I’m no genius in math, but even I quickly realized that there’s no way that five can be divided into 21 evenly. I thought that perhaps a couple of the pall bearers would join them when the time came to shoot.
(Camera: Nikon D300. Lens: 70-200mm @ 200mm. Exposure: 1/500th sec. @ f/5.6. ISO: 200)
The signal was given near the end of the service, but no others joined the group. All five aimed, fired three volleys and were finished. No other shots were fired to make up the 6-shot shortfall. I suppose to the people inside the church, five rifles probably sounded a lot like seven, but I found it a bit curious there wasn’t a full complement of soldiers present.
I’ve covered a number of events, from funerals to memorials, where the 21-gun salute has been part of the ceremony. I’ve seen it performed by active military, like Coumas’ funeral, to veterans from the local VFW group. The one thing in common was it was always done with seven guns.