I am researching the history behind how snipers affected the ruling against saluting in a combat zone. Does anyone happen to know in which war this rule was made?

I did some searching online and found 2 instances during WWII where soldiers were told not to salute officers. One instance in Normandy, the other in the Pacific.

http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=2031
http://www.newszap.com/articles/2004...obee/gla03.txt

It has to be sometime after the Civil War since officers were extremely easy to spot before then. WWI was massed infantry assaults. There were a lit of snipers in the trenches. Any WWI account I have read says snipers tended to hit anything that was brave enough to take a look "over the top." It would make sense that WWII be the time that saluting in a combat zone be banned. There is a Bill Maldoon cartoon that shows 2 soldiers looking at a billboard with general orders. One order was for the men to stop saluting officers. The 2 soldiers looking at the billboard said "we must be going back to the front."

Anyone have anything different???

SGT Doody

I would guess the idea probably came out around the time of the development of the rifle. Before that smoothbore muskets wouldn't have had the range.

Originally Posted by Charge_7

I would guess the idea probably came out around the time of the development of the rifle. Before that smoothbore muskets wouldn't have had the range.

I've studied the Civil War pretty deeply and have not read anything on the matter. I know good artillerymen would try to pop shots at the groups of officers watching a battle unfold. There were sniper rifles at the time. A few generals met their fate with that gun. But none of the officer accounts I have ever read say anything about being afraid of snipers or saluting during a battle.

The Spanish American War did not see too much in the name of accurate shooting. The Philippine War saw a high amount of fire, but that fire was mostly inaccurate. The battles on Cuba were not against highly trained troops. That is why Roosevelt survived his 400 yd charge over open ground. The enemy troops did not adjust their gun sites and fired over the heads of the Rough Riders.

WWI had instances of snipers. Since most of the men were in trenches, the snipers more or less hit anything that looked over the top of the trenches. In the movie the Lost Battalion, a movie about an american Battalion who got cut off behind the German lines, there was an instance where the Battalion Commander told a new LT not to salute "up here [at the front]."

I can name at least one instance prior to all that that an officer was shot by a sniper. British General Braddock was shot by a French or indian sniper (believe French took credit but was most likely an indian) at the start of the French and Indian War. Lt. Colonel George Washington was at the scene btw. Braddock was most likely spotted by his braid rather than a salute however.

I was watching a show on the Revolutionary War and the program was talking about a time where a British sharpshooter took aim at an American officer but didn't fire. The sharpshooter later found out that he was aiming at George Washington. Also, at Bunker Hill the Americans took aim at British Officers. At that time, officers will easily identified by their uniforms.

the movie Forest Gump has a scene where Forest salutes an officer and the officer responds with (not a direct quote), don't salute me here. there are snipers out there that would love to take out an officer.

This thread brings back memories from bootcamp, we had our first field exercise and I saluted a Lieutenant and after some yelling, running and pushups I learned my lesson...

We had a Boot Butterbar that insisted on being saluted during his first Field X. Gained the Moniker "Lt. Sniper Check" :P

Gotta love 'em, bless their little harts.