“If they choose not to salute, they can still put their hand over their heart like other civilians.”
That’s what they were taught. BTW, there are no ex-Marines.
I don’t know how many ex marines there are, perhaps a couple of million, but my guess is that many of them will salute as long as they are aware that it is now legal to do so.
There are about 2.5 or 3 million ex marines, my guess is that many of them will salute the flag raising and lowering and the national anthem as long as they are aware that it is now legal to do so.