As of January 1, 2000, Section 578 of Public Law 106-65 of the National Defense Authorization Act mandates that the United States Armed Forces shall provide the rendering of honors in a military funeral for any eligible veteran if requested by his or her family.
As mandated by federal law, an honor guard detail for the burial of an eligible veteran shall consist of no fewer than two members of the Armed Forces.
The honor guard detail will, at a minimum, perform a ceremony that includes the folding and presenting of the flag of the United States to the next of kin and the sounding of Taps which will be played by a lone bugler, if available, or by audio recording.
The presenter then recites the following wording, which was standardized on April 20, 2012:[9] On behalf of the President of the United States, the United States (Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force or Coast Guard), and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service.Three spent shell-casings, each representing one of three volleys, were sometimes slipped into the folds of the flag before its presentation to the next of kin.
[10][11] However, this practice has become infrequent and is rarely seen today as Title 4, Section 8(h) of the United States Code specifies that the flag should not be used as a receptacle for holding anything.