[gainda]

You're already misremembering what actually happened - that he says that after two vigorous salutes.

[assimpleaspossi]

And how does that change anything?

[gainda]

it ends up reading to me as an afterthought or half-hearted attempt to explain away the salute. a salute which was given with a grimace and a violent force, twice; it doesn't match the warmth of a message of 'my heart goes out to you.'

when you say 'my heart goes out to you' your hands typically stay on your heart ( which he seemed to know to do then ) or move very slightly directly out, not diagonally and up.