Posted on 05/27/2018 3:04:41 PM PDT by Morgana
Have you ever been in a cemetery and saw coins laying on a tombstone?
Col. Dave Taylor, a Vietnam War veteran, explained the tradition and the reason behind it.
A coin left on a headstone lets the deceased soldier's family know that somebody stopped by to pay their respects.
If you leave a penny, it means you visited. A nickel means that you and the deceased soldier trained at boot camp together. If you served with the soldier, you leave a dime. A quarter is very significant because it means that you were there when that soldier was killed.
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thanks for sharing
According to what I found, (assuming I recall this correctly) a quarter means you were serving with the dead when he was killed. A dime means you went to training with him. A nickel means you served in the same unit. A penny shows respect.
Those who served with the deceased leave a Challenge Coin. No cash value. But he was one of us. And we have long memories.
VERY interesting-—I did not know any of this.
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When my father in law died, there were several coins left on his coffin. No one saw who left them. But I explained the tradition to my wife. I was sure it was folks from the vets club.
Remember when democrats could still be assumed to be patriots?
Have been to cemeteries and seen coins on graves and wondered why this was. The other day was driving when I heard a story like this on the radio, and on that story it said this practice is very old and goes back to Roman times. Guess that is why we find a lot of Roman coins in fields near graves?
I have several challenge coins.
Got one from the guys that found Saddam Hussien.
Ride on “outriders”
I’ve never heard of this tradition before. I like it.
Challenge coins are issued to those who served for certain operations.
If you are in a military watering hole and claim to have a been coined you may be challenged to produce it.
If you can not produce it, you must buy the drinks.
Putting coins on the eyes of the dead goes to the Roman era
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0M__0Z1pjg
Keeping a few $20s in yer pocket is simpler.. than carrying around challenge coins LOL
In WWII guys in a unit would all sign dollar bills known as “shorters” these were effectively used as challenge coins
I remember a fairly large number of pennies when I made a pilgrimage to Traveler’s grave site a few years ago. I guess I should have left a dime to get folks wondering.
I have heard it is from Greek times to pay Charon, the ferryman of Hades, for passage across the River Styx.
Correction: “Short Snorter”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_snorter
I don’t believe the coins on graves has anything to do with military tradition, it may.
I bet you like to Rick Roll people too!
Name him, ping him...
...to speak of the dead is to bring him to life ~ Egyptian proverb
If it’s a pilot, one of the traditions there comes from what I believe was a WW-II song: “Throw a nickel on the grass, save a fighter pilot’s *ss...”
I recently did that for a deceased classmate who was a fighter pilot.
We have dead horses posting on FR?
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