Why didn't John Jr salute?

I was waiting for that scene, too (my husband and I were probably the only people in the theater who were adults during that weekend). Most likely they deliberately left it out because it had turned into such a cliche. Instead, they show John Jr. in the car window, perhaps even more poignant because it's not a scene that people remember.

Because it was a hit piece on the Kennedys and Jackie O. Murdoch's Fox Searchlight made the movie. Writer has political motivations to weaken the Democratic party. The movie's goal was to make Jackie O look weak and unlikeable and JFKs legacy manufactured and that he really did nothing except be attractive. It was a disgusting portrayal and incredibly boring. They left out the salute because it would make them likeable.

I waited for that, too!

Here's an explanation offered by director Pablo Larraín regarding the omission of the salute:

"One key historic moment purposely omitted from the film was the heartbreaking image of young John Jr. saluting at his father?s funeral. ?It?s so iconic, so important and so well-known that we took it out,? said Pablo. ?We actually shot it and it was beautiful, but there were two problems. The body was moved from the White House to the Capitol, it stayed one night there and then from the Capitol went to the White House. And then that?s when they walked with it to St. Matthews. From St. Matthews was a mass, then it was taken to Arlington Cemetery. In the montage of the funeral, if we went to St. Matthews, it would like take another couple of minutes and it was very hard for the rhythm of the film. That?s one of the reasons we removed it. And then the other one is we really wanted to keep the focus on her."

This full interview with Larraín is found here:

http://www.vulture.com/2016/12/jackie-kennedy-movie-pablo-larrain-trivia.html

I was also disappointed it was not included. What I really wanted to know is whether Jackie told John John to salute his dad or if he did it on his own imitating others around him.

I was hoping for it too

It wasn't there because the director made a horrible and pretty well unforgivable mistake!

Continuity, BLEEP! The film jumps all over the place from Jackie's later interview to flashbacks of White House events, the assassination, and the funeral. They could have fitted in the salute! Some, if not all, of John Junior's birthday party took place AFTER the funeral--it was cut short for the funeral. He did salute at the party, there is a picture of this. They could have cut from that to the funeral salute if necessary, as they did show the party. This was a pathetic flub in an otherwise excellent movie.

I did find a production photo of this scene from the movie and if we could post photos here I would be glad to share it.

Bonus questions: Is there a DVD or Blu-Ray with extras? I'll believe that scene was filmed when I see it.

Has John Junior's salute (performed by an actor) appeared in any other film? I haven't seen every movie about the Kennedys. I remember one filmed in Canada where it must have been cold because they had John Junior in long trousers. This one at least got the clothing right. But I saw only still pictures from that film so do not know whether he saluted. Thanks for any information.