Amendment to Section 9 of Title 4 of the U.S. Code   The president signed the Amendment to Section 9 of Title 4 of the U.S. Code which was attached with the H.R. 4986 Bill under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008. The amendment reads: SEC. 594. CONDUCT BY MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES AND VETERANS OUT OF UNIFORM DURING HOISTING, LOWERING, OR PASSING OF UNITED STATES FLAG. Section 9 of title 4, United States Code, is amended by striking `all persons present' and all that follows through the end of the section and inserting the following: `all persons present in uniform should render the military salute. Members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are present but not in uniform may render the military salute. All other persons present should face the flag and stand at attention with their right hand over the heart, or if applicable, remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Citizens of other countries present should stand at attention. All such conduct toward the flag in a moving column should be rendered at the moment the flag passes.'. Also, a number of inquiries have been received from concerned veterans wondering if this change included saluting the flag during the playing of the national anthem, honors (i.e. Taps), or any other saluting situations. These particular situations were not addressed in the amendment to the code. Please note that this change in the flag amendment only addresses veterans to be allowed to salute the flag when under the circumstances mentioned in the section’s title, which is for hoisting, lowering or passing of the U.S. flag. The amendment also does not address whether the veteran needs to be 'covered' or not.   What this means is that veterans should now render the military salute to the flag rather than placing the hand over the heart as is done by civilians. This will take some getting used to but the vets will approve for the most part. I’ll put something in the October issue about it.   Terry Miller Executive Director & Editor Tin Can Sailors, Inc. The National Association of Destroyer Veterans www.destroyers.org terrymiller@destroyers.org