uh, in the military much?

Look I know a lot of people out there would like to say they know it all about the military since it is probably the most common media focus in movies, tv, etc. But to say that someone who receives the medal of honor, the highest award in the military, is suddenly privelaged to being saluted by all ranks including the President is rediculous! An award, even the esteemed medal of honor, is only that, a decoration for courageous and selfless acts, NOT a rank, nor a promotion of rank! If you spent time in the military, I don't know in which one it was , but is surely wasn't the US military that I spent 6 years as an officer in! No one gets a salute becuase of an awarded medal!

MOH does get saluted

I do not know (or quite frankly care) about the other services, but in the Marine Corps that baby blue ribbon (and medal) rates a salute.

uh...yeah it does

Okay, this comment is meant to clear things up, since the first comment seems to have screwed things up.
My father was in the US Air Force for about 12 years (82-94), he served in Germany (Ramstein Air Base) and South Korea (Osan Air Base), anyways, he was the one who told me about the president saluting the CMOH winner. He also said everyone else should salute you

MOH winners get saluted

you must always salute an officer that has higher rank than you. obviously all enlisted personnel are required to salute all officers. the ONLY enlistedman who gets saluted is one who has been awarded the Medal of Honor.

From wordiq.com/definition/Salute\r\r"It is a widely-believed myth that in the United States military all personnel are required to initiate a salute to a Medal of Honor recipient, regardless of rank. Nothing in United States military regulations relates specifically to the Medal of Honor except for its order of precedence on the uniform. Custom, however, does dictate that a general should salute a private if the private has the Medal of Honor."\r\rSo although it's not required by military code, it has become expected.

Saluting the MOH is a custom...

The movie uses footage from when President Johnson awarded Army PFC Sammy L. Davis the MOH with Tom Hanks' head superimposed over the image of PFC Davis. Perhaps LBJ didn't salute PFC Davis, but he should have, not because any law compels him to do so, but because tradition calls for it. LBJ should have known a lot about tradition. After all, he was an officer in the Navy. \r\rThere are other times when rendering a salute to someone inferior in rank is also apropriate, such as when you're boarding a Navy ship. In that case, the tradition is to salute the officer of the deck, who may not be an officer at all. Is some Navy seaman going to try to slap me with charges if I don't salute him when I board the ship? No, but it's tradition, so I do it. \r\rI have to agree with the original nitpick (mostly). The salute itself is a military custom, which is rendered as a sign of respect, normally to one of superior rank. No one is going to go to jail for failing to render a salute. However, as a sign of respect, the salute is apropriate for a recipient of the Medal of Honor. \r\rI don't care if the recipient of the MOH is the worst servicemember in the entire military on all other counts. If I see the MOH around his neck, I will render a salute. I have never, in all my years of military service (and I have served in three branches), witnessed nor heard of any stories of disrespect toward a recipient of the MOH or any actual stories of failing to follow this time-honored tradition of saluting the recipient of the MOH. \r\rMilitary customs, courtesies, and traditions don't always carry with them the impact of law. However, they are mostly expected, much in the same way that you're expected to stand when someone plays the National Anthem or when someone asks you to bow your head for a prayer. You're expected to do these things and you're regarded as being disrespectful or rude if you fail to do so. \r\rUnlike a claim in another comment, no one is saying that they're going to throw the President in the brig for failing to salute (or for failing to return a salute). The brig is a Marine Corps prison. To be thrown in the brig, you must first be an actual member of the military (not the President or a senator or any other civilian) who is accused of an infraction of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and is found guilty of one of the punitive articles which carries with it a sentence of confinement.

You don't "win" the Medal of Honor

The Medal of Honor is not "won". It is "received". Those awarded the Medal of Honor are recipients, not "winners". There's no contest, no contestants, and no winner. Therefore, Forrest would have been a Medal of Honor Recipient, not a Medal of Honor Winner.

Mr. President isn't required to salute anybody.

Missing in all the above comments, is the fact that Lyndon Johnson was a civilian at the time. In fact, the constitution required him to be a civilian at the time of his inauguration - since no member of the military may hold the office of President. It is not customary for civilians to render a military salute, nor is it proper for military personnel not in uniform to do so. So, regardless of the fact that the "Commander-in-Chief" is not actually a member of the military, he would not have saluted on this occasion.\rThe "tradition" of returning the salutes of military members by a President was started by Ronald Reagan and continued by Mssrs. Bush, Clinton, and Bush. It is a simple and quaint little practice but it has no foundation in military custom, tradition, or regulation.