interesting fact if true

[cuznjohn]

I didn't know this.. Did you? Have you ever been in a cemetery and saw coins laying on a tombstone? There is actually a reason behind it.

COINS LEFT ON TOMBSTONES
While visiting some cemeteries you may notice that headstones marking certain graves have coins on them, left by previous visitors to the grave.
These coins have distinct meanings when left on the headstones of those who gave their life while serving in America's military, and these meanings vary depending on the denomination of coin.
A coin left on a headstone or at the grave site is meant as a message to the deceased soldier's family that someone else has visited the grave to pay respect. Leaving a penny at the grave means simply that you visited.
A nickel indicates that you and the deceased trained at boot camp together, while a dime means you served with him in some capacity. By leaving a quarter at the grave, you are telling the family that you were with the solider when he was killed.
According to tradition, the money left at graves in national cemeteries and state veterans cemeteries is eventually collected, and the funds are put toward maintaining the cemetery or paying burial costs for indigent veterans.
In the US, this practice became common during the Vietnam war, due to the political divide in the country over the war; leaving a coin was seen as a more practical way to communicate that you had visited the grave than contacting the soldier's family, which could devolve into an uncomfortable argument over politics relating to the war.
Some Vietnam veterans would leave coins as a "down payment" to buy their fallen comrades a beer or play a hand of cards when they would finally be reunited.
The tradition of leaving coins on the headstones of military men and women can be traced to as far back as the Roman Empire.

 

[grumpybob]

Never heard that about Nam Vets. I can certainly understand the logic behind it with all the hostile air around the war. Notice I called it a war. Back when I came home from Nam I could not visit the families of guys that were KIA while we were in action. Just didn't know what to say to their families when I was standing there alive. So that makes good sense to me thinking about the way I felt.

 

[ARtraveler]

I did not know about this. :thumbup:

 

[spydaman60]

first on the serious note, i did not realize this, but it is very interesting. makes perfect sense to me. now on a lighter note--"there's no way there are any coins in any cemetaries around your place john!":roflblack: people in the city grab them, if you drop them, before they even hit the ground. some of them grab them right out of your pocket!!!:roflblack::roflblack:

 

[cuznjohn]

true

first on the serious note, i did not realize this, but it is very interesting. makes perfect sense to me. now on a lighter note--"there's no way there are any coins in any cemetaries around your place john!":roflblack: people in the city grab them, if you drop them, before they even hit the ground. some of them grab them right out of your pocket!!!:roflblack::roflblack:

i know a woman that went to visit her fathers grave with her daughter, they left their pocketbooks in the car and walked to the grave, when they got back to the car her window was broken and both bags were gone. this happened at Calvary cemetery right off the grand central parkway

 

[spydaman60]

i know a woman that went to visit her fathers grave with her daughter, they left their pocketbooks in the car and walked to the grave, when they got back to the car her window was broken and both bags were gone. this happened at Calvary cemetery right off the grand central parkway

i believe it!!!

 

[Harvey]

COINS

A coin left on a headstone or at the grave site is meant as a message to the deceased soldier's family that someone else has visited the grave to pay respect.


Leaving a penny at the grave means simply that you visited.


A nickel indicates that you and the deceased trained at boot camp together, while a dime means you served with him in some capacity.


By leaving a quarter at the grave, you are telling the family that you were with the solider when he was killed.


This is true. As a member of Rolling Thunder & Patriot Guard, I am in several cemeteries and have seen the coins on many memorial stones.

 

[Flanker]

A coin left on a headstone or at the grave site is meant as a message to the deceased soldier's family that someone else has visited the grave to pay respect.


Leaving a penny at the grave means simply that you visited.


A nickel indicates that you and the deceased trained at boot camp together, while a dime means you served with him in some capacity.


By leaving a quarter at the grave, you are telling the family that you were with the solider when he was killed.


This is true. As a member of Rolling Thunder & Patriot Guard, I am in several cemeteries and have seen the coins on many memorial stones.

Didn't know that.......................thanks for the post!

 

[flaggerphil]

I'm a vet and have never heard of it.

 

[Blue Star]

I didn't know this.. Did you? Have you ever been in a cemetery and saw coins laying on a tombstone? There is actually a reason behind it.

COINS LEFT ON TOMBSTONES
While visiting some cemeteries you may notice that headstones marking certain graves have coins on them, left by previous visitors to the grave.
These coins have distinct meanings when left on the headstones of those who gave their life while serving in America's military, and these meanings vary depending on the denomination of coin.
A coin left on a headstone or at the grave site is meant as a message to the deceased soldier's family that someone else has visited the grave to pay respect. Leaving a penny at the grave means simply that you visited.
A nickel indicates that you and the deceased trained at boot camp together, while a dime means you served with him in some capacity. By leaving a quarter at the grave, you are telling the family that you were with the solider when he was killed.
According to tradition, the money left at graves in national cemeteries and state veterans cemeteries is eventually collected, and the funds are put toward maintaining the cemetery or paying burial costs for indigent veterans.
In the US, this practice became common during the Vietnam war, due to the political divide in the country over the war; leaving a coin was seen as a more practical way to communicate that you had visited the grave than contacting the soldier's family, which could devolve into an uncomfortable argument over politics relating to the war.
Some Vietnam veterans would leave coins as a "down payment" to buy their fallen comrades a beer or play a hand of cards when they would finally be reunited.
The tradition of leaving coins on the headstones of military men and women can be traced to as far back as the Roman Empire.

I don't know if this is true, but makes sense to me. I know that Jewish people when visiting a grave site will clean up around the headstone, leave a small pebble on the corner of the headstone instead of flowers to show respect, and that someone was there. I don't know the reason why Jewish people do not leave flowers, but it is not done. The best known example of this is in the movie Schindler's list. Maybe this tradition was started by a Jewish servicemen.
RIP to all the past soldiers, and thank you.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Snopes.com says it's partially true. The coin denomination was a recent internet invention though, it appears. But the simple fact that a coin is left behind means someone did visit the grave. According to Snopes the practice became widespread after Viet Nam when folks wanted to let families of the fallen know that someone cared without getting involved in a debate about the politics of the war. Remember, political emotions ran white hot over Viet Nam for many years. The last paragraph I quote is touching.

Regarding the 'tradition' of soldiers leaving on the headstones of fallen comrades varying denominations of coins to denote their relationship with the deceased, the earliest reference to this practice we've found so far dates only to June 2009, when it appeared as a web site post. The version now commonly circulated in e-mail appears to have been drawn from it, albeit some changes have slipped in, such as "A buddy who served in the same outfit, or was with the deceased when he died, might leave a quarter" becoming "By leaving a quarter at the grave, you are telling the family that you were with the soldier when he was killed."

Despite the claim of this tradition's dating back to the days of the Roman Empire, there's no reason to suppose that it does. A coin might be placed in the mouth of a fallen Roman soldier (to get him across the River Styx), but his comrades wouldn't be leaving their money on his grave, but rather expending it on a funeral banquet in his honor.

Given the lack of evidence that anyone anywhere is following this 'tradition,' it is perhaps best regarded not as an actual practice, but instead as someone's idea of what should be.

Yet military folk do sometimes leave very special remembrances at the graves of deceased servicemen: challenge coins. These tokens identify their bearers as members of particular units and are prized and cherished by those to whom they have been given; thus any challenge coins found at gravesites were almost certainly left there by comrades-in-arms of the deceased.
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/military/coins.asp#skcbjP7KB1kgd5xZ.99
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