With Memorial Day coming: Why are coins left on head stones? Meaning: A coin left on a headstone or at the grave site is meant as a message to the deceased soldiers 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. 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. History: The tradition of leaving coins on the headstones of military men and women can be traced to as far back as the Roman empire. The custom has its roots in the ancient Greco-Roman belief that anyone who died would need money to pay Charon, the ferryman who would transport them across the River Styx to the underworld. In the U.S., 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 soldiers 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 Black Donnellys: There is an alternate interpretation of why coins are left on headstones, although it relates specifically to the notorious Irish-Canadian Donnelly family, who were known as the Black Donnellys due to their involvement in the brutal massacre of a rival family. Coins are often left on the headstone at the Donnelly family grave. According to the Official Donnelly Home Page, this is due to a legend that the Donnellys will grant the wish of anyone who leaves a coin on the tombstone. The site also posits an alternative view, based on a superstition that anyone who owes money to someone who died will be haunted by that persons ghost. The only way to stop the haunting is to place the money on the deceaseds tombstone before midnight. Read more: ehow/info_8429911_there-coins-headstones-cemetery.html#ixzz31Latz7Bk
Posted on: Sat, 10 May 2014 20:44:47 +0000
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