---
title: "11 hand salutes that are just plain bad"
date: "2018-05-29"
modified: "2020-10-22"
authors:
  - name: "Tim Kirkpatrick"
    link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/tkirkpatrick/"
url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/humor/11-hand-salutes-that-are-just-plain-bad/"
categories:
  - "Join the Military"
  - "Military Culture"
---

# 11 hand salutes that are just plain bad

![](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17493626/origin.jpg>)

We greet superior officers, pay homage to the American flag, and show respect to fallen comrades by rendering the powerful, non-verbal gesture known as the hand salute.

---

Though there's no real written record of how or where the worldwide tradition started, saluting dates back in history to a time when troops [would raise their right hand](<https://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/history/vignettes/respect1.html>) (their weapon hand) as a signal of friendship.

Today, recruits learn how to properly hand salute in boot camp and demonstrate the act countless times before heading out to active service. After a while, muscle memory kicks in and the gesture becomes second nature. But many civilians use the salute as a form of celebration — and they get it so, *so* wrong.

### Related: [5 awful military haircuts that would fail inspection](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/popular/5-awful-military-haircuts-that-would-fail-inspection/>)

## 1. When Michael Cutler, son of a truck-driving arm wrestler, returns home from military school. (Over the Top)

## 2. That time Cousin Eddie felt super patriotic during Christmas. (National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation)

## 3. Some dude watching wrestling and drinking a beer. (USA Network)

## 4. After that former TV president gave a motivational speech. (House of Cards)

## 5. No clue where this is from, but it's funny as hell.

### Also read: 7 ways you know you're an officer

## 6. When that little kid who turned out to be Darth Vader found out his dad was into superhero cosplay. (Jingle All the Way)

## 7. An unsat salute from a guy who once played a Marine in a movie. (Some award show on MTV)

## 8. So, we're not exactly sure what she was trying to accomplish with her initial type of salute... but at least she ended it with a solid pointing performance.

## 9. At least Ms. Kaushtupper correctly mounted the American flag on the wall... (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)

### Don't forget: [5 common movie mistakes veterans can spot right away](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/lists/5-common-movie-mistakes-veterans-can-spot-right-away/>)

## 10. Even though his salute is off, it's still pretty funny. (M\*A\*S\*H)

## 11. There's nothing wrong with this troop's salute, but Dmitry Medvedev epically failed.

## Author
Tim Kirkpatrick entered the Navy in 2007 as a Hospital Corpsman and deployed to Sangin, Afghanistan with 3rd Battalion 5th Marines in the fall of 2010. Tim now has degrees in both Film Production and Screenwriting. tim.kirkpatrick@wearethemighty.com