Coins on Graves – What it means…
The coins serve as messages to the deceased soldiers’ families. A message that someone else has visited the grave to pay respect. A penny simply means that you have visited and lets the families know that someone has simply stopped to pay their respects.
Nickels indicate that you and the deceased had trained at boot camp
together.
According to tradition, the money left at graves in national cemeteries and state veterans cemeteries is eventually collected and the funds are used to maintain the cemetery or paying burial costs for indigent veterans.
Perhaps even Buy challenge Coins to be left as a way of preparing to have fun!
During the Vietnam War a coin was viewed as a practical way to communicate the visitation rather than contacting the soldier’s family. The Vietnam War caused major political division and this anonymous coin “gift” avoided uncomfortable arguments.