Have you ever a coin placed on top of a tombstone? If you have seen such occurrence, then you’re definitely one of those people who had been wondering what those coins are for and if those coins represent something.
Dave Malenfant works at Holly, Michigan’s National Military Cemetery. Given the field of his job, he has already seen countless of families mourning the death of their loved ones. However, with all the families who visited their loved ones, Dave Malenfant noticed something odd!
Before leaving the cemetery American coins are being placed on top of the headstones of their deceased loved ones.
He was intrigued by what he’s been witnessing throughout the years so he decided to do some research to find out the story behind the coin practice.
According to Malenfant, leaving coins on gravestones is actually a way of honoring the military members who died also to show the family that someone who cares, had visited the grave.
No one knows how the tradition began, but a lot of people claim that this has been a good tradition and is actually a beautiful way of remembering those who made sacrifices for the country. However, there are some people who think that the gesture started to become popular during the World War II.
At first, placing coins was just a way of paying respect to the fallen, but as time flies, each coin left on the tombstone has been given a whole new different meaning of its own.
If you wanted to pay respect to the fallen soldier, leave a penny. If you leave a nickel, then it means that you trained in the boot camp with the deceased, while leaving a dime and a quarter means that the person who left it was present when that soldier was killed.
Source : manilacentral
