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Unfortunately for you, context matters. No matter how American this used to be you can't plan to do a salute like this without planning for it to have clear connotations with the Nazi salute.

Later, during the 1920s and 1930s, Italian fascists and Nazi Germans adopted a salute which was very similar, attributed to the Roman salute, a gesture that was popularly believed to have been used in ancient Rome. This resulted in controversy over the use of the Bellamy salute in the United States. It was officially replaced by the hand-over-heart salute when Congress amended the Flag Code on December 22, 1942.

But yes, an obscure salute that was only used for a couple of decades over 80 years ago is very American...

Unlikely he would have known that one, being from South Africa, even at his age.