Several years ago, apx 10 thereabouts, there was a new law passed concerning the flag. All former and current military can now salute the flag during any ceremony where people normally place hand over heart. This is not just retirees, it's all former. There was one area of the law not specified so it remains a question. That is, do you remove your hat or leave it on to salute. In military uniform, you would salute, but this pertains to civilian clothing. This law is not too fairly well known. On tv, for example, I've seen members of VFW stand at attention with hand over heart---they could have saluted and most likely would have had they known the law.