1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,760 Hey everybody, welcome back to the sanctuary. 2 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:12,900 So Memorial Day is right around the corner and it brought something to mind that really 3 00:00:12,900 --> 00:00:15,240 strikes home for me as a veteran. 4 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:21,160 This is something a lot of people always have questions about, so I'm going to do my best 5 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,840 to shed some light and impart some knowledge. 6 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:30,520 Now by now, I'm sure some of you are wondering what I'm rambling on about. 7 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:33,360 I'm talking about coins. 8 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:40,160 Specifically, I'm talking about coins that you will likely find on hit stones and other 9 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:46,320 grave markers of deceased military veterans and sometimes other people. 10 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:55,040 Now to begin with, I do want to point out that this practice is not biblical. 11 00:00:55,040 --> 00:01:00,400 Depending on what you read, this practice is often considered to be traced back to old 12 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:06,920 Roman or Greek culture, but the origins are ultimately unknown. 13 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:13,400 And the practice is often associated with those pagan practices of placing coins on 14 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:15,160 the eyes of the deceased. 15 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:20,160 However, that connection is also inconclusive. 16 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:26,760 Now with that said, there are some things to know about how this practice is done today 17 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:32,920 and I bring it up because it can cause a bit of trouble if the wrong person thinks you're 18 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:35,800 dishonoring the dead. 19 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:41,440 And because this is also one area, you know, when you're looking at death, people get emotionally 20 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:46,560 carried away and they don't always think about things the way that they should and they don't 21 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:49,600 always approach things the way that they should. 22 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:55,440 In addition to that, like I said, Memorial Day is right around the corner and as we all 23 00:01:55,440 --> 00:02:01,960 know, a lot of alcohol is consumed during this holiday. 24 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:08,520 With that said, let's go in and I'm going to tell you what exactly these coins are and 25 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:10,800 what happens with them as well. 26 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:16,480 So as you'll find, there actually is at the end of all this, a good purpose that they 27 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:17,760 go towards. 28 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:19,240 All right. 29 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:27,720 So the most common coins you're going to find are pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. 30 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:33,040 We're going to go into each one accordingly and then I'll go into a couple of other things 31 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:35,100 that you may find as well. 32 00:02:35,100 --> 00:02:38,520 So of course, first off is the penny. 33 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:44,960 A penny simply means that someone came by and paid their respects. 34 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:50,480 They don't need to have any kind of actual relationship with the deceased. 35 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:54,980 It's merely a token to show that they stopped by. 36 00:02:54,980 --> 00:02:59,760 This can be anyone and it's done as a sign of respect. 37 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,880 Next up is the nickel. 38 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:05,560 Now this is where things are starting to get a little more intimate. 39 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:12,080 A nickel means that the person who visited went to training with the deceased. 40 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:18,280 Now depending on what branch of service the person was in, you're looking at boot camp 41 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,400 or basic training, whichever. 42 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:26,880 It could even be by some considered to be the occupational school, the school that they 43 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:32,560 went to for what their job was going to be in the military or like as the army has it, 44 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:37,640 that sort of stuff, any of these kinds of schools. 45 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,560 And let's face it, training is a very tender time. 46 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:46,280 For most, it's the first time they've actually left home. 47 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:49,880 And it's not like they just get to leave and go back to it at the end of the day. 48 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:51,160 They're there. 49 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:56,360 So add to that the stressors of training and the environment itself. 50 00:03:56,360 --> 00:04:00,580 You find new lifelong friends and extended family. 51 00:04:00,580 --> 00:04:07,160 On top of that, they're learning the basic skills needed to serve their country within 52 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:09,280 a specific job. 53 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:16,000 A lot of veterans, myself included, this is where you make some of your lifelong friends. 54 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,720 I still talk to people I went to boot camp with to this day. 55 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:25,520 Now the next coin up here that we're going to talk about, the next token is the dime. 56 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:28,840 This is going to be the most common token that you'll find. 57 00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:35,760 A dime shows that the person who stopped by actually served with the deceased. 58 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:42,720 Now this may be the same unit, duty station, a joint operation, et cetera, et cetera. 59 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:47,040 Don't think that this is just limited to a branch of service either. 60 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:51,360 In addition to different units working together, sister services work together regularly as 61 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:52,360 well. 62 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:59,040 A great example of this would be Navy corpsmen serving in the Marine Corps. 63 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:03,600 This happens every day because the Marine Corps doesn't have its own medical service. 64 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:09,040 During my time in the Corps, I actually spent a brief time working with the Air Force. 65 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:12,680 So these things happen all the time. 66 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:17,240 Because of that, you might actually be surprised to learn of all the people a service member 67 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:21,060 had the opportunity to work with and befriend. 68 00:05:21,060 --> 00:05:26,280 Next up is going to be the least common coin. 69 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:32,340 But it's one that pulls at the heartstrings of people the hardest, the quarter. 70 00:05:32,340 --> 00:05:39,960 A quarter shows that the person who stopped by was actually with the deceased when they 71 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:41,640 died. 72 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:47,600 So as you can imagine, this is one of the hardest because nobody witnesses death and 73 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:49,320 goes unmarked. 74 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:53,320 This is something that carries on with you until it's your time to pass. 75 00:05:53,320 --> 00:06:01,400 It doesn't matter if it was in times of conflict or times of peace. 76 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:03,400 Death is a very distinct experience. 77 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:11,800 And especially when it's somebody you cared about and you loved, it changes things. 78 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:17,000 Now with that said, there are a couple of other types of coins that you may or may not 79 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:21,120 come across. 80 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:25,040 I'll go into these things individually as well. 81 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:29,560 After that, I have something else of merit that you may find of interest as well. 82 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:34,200 So the first of which I'm sure some of you have already guessed at, and it's probably 83 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:37,240 because you're a veteran or you've worked with veterans or some kind of first response 84 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:40,360 service and this is the challenge coin. 85 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:46,800 Now while they don't have a monetary value as far as like spending it or anything like 86 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:52,440 that, what they represent to others is often considered to be a more value. 87 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:59,800 You see, they show that the coin bearer belongs to a certain unit or participated in certain 88 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:00,800 actions. 89 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:06,800 Yes, some people pay to collect them, but many of them, the ones that truly have the 90 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:11,560 most value, they can't be purchased. 91 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:13,800 And they're not just going to be given out, they're earned. 92 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:18,520 When you're first attached to a unit, it's not common practice to just walk in the door 93 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:23,920 and just be like, hey, I'm so and so, and they just, hey, welcome aboard, and they hand 94 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:24,920 you a coin. 95 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:25,920 It doesn't work that way. 96 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:30,880 Instead, you work, you go to work, you do the things you're supposed to, you earn your 97 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:36,320 way in, you get to know people, and you're not just an assigned body, but you become 98 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,280 part of that family, a part of that unit. 99 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:46,560 And like I said, certain actions as well, because even those, certain people are limited, 100 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,240 so it's a very small group, it's very niche, it's a good identifier. 101 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:55,000 So these are very prized trinkets, they're very coveted. 102 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:59,680 Even outside of the military, you'd be able to find very specific coins representing very 103 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:06,520 specific groups, especially in first response, firefighters, police, EMTs, dispatchers, and 104 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:08,240 various others. 105 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:14,880 So when you find one at a grave site, it is very likely that it was left by another brother 106 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:17,360 or sister in arms. 107 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:18,560 Okay? 108 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:26,480 Now the next is not a common sight here in the US, especially the further you move inland 109 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:32,880 and away from the coast, and that would be foreign currency. 110 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:35,680 Believe it or not, yes, foreign currency. 111 00:08:35,680 --> 00:08:40,940 Not only is it a good sign, or I should say great sign of respect to find it, but even 112 00:08:40,940 --> 00:08:48,720 more so when it's placed and it also has a local currency left with it, kind of side 113 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:53,200 by side, and it's easy to identify that they were meant to be placed together. 114 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:57,240 It is a great sign of respect. 115 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:03,160 What's more, I should say this is more common at grave sites that are overseas, especially 116 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:04,160 places like in Europe. 117 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:09,880 Occasionally you'll see this elsewhere, but you think of the graveyards and everything 118 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:12,720 after World War II or even World War I. 119 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,920 They're in France and other places. 120 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:23,120 If you're wondering why this would happen today, especially with foreigners, keep in 121 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:29,360 mind all branches of service, they do joint training and joint operations with other countries 122 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:31,920 where they're also going to make friends. 123 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:38,440 So on top of that, while we work in the military, we work with people from other countries regularly 124 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:39,440 as well. 125 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:45,680 Translators, secretaries, transportations, various logistics, the list goes on and on. 126 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:48,960 We work with a lot of different people. 127 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:53,760 Even civilians, security corporations. 128 00:09:53,760 --> 00:10:00,760 My time in Japan, we had local nationals that worked security at the gate along with camp 129 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:02,080 guard and the MPs and everything. 130 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:03,080 We love them. 131 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:04,280 They're great people. 132 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:08,360 So you do meet a lot of people and get to work with a lot of really cool people that 133 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:09,360 way as well. 134 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:18,240 So going on, before I go into what all happens with these coins, let me go into something 135 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:22,680 that may really be surprising for a lot of people. 136 00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:27,960 These things don't always happen on military grave markers. 137 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:33,360 You may be surprised to see these things on civilian markers as well. 138 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:39,560 It's actually happening more and more often and with similar parallels. 139 00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:43,920 The penny showing that someone stopped by to pay respect and nickel representing that 140 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:45,480 they went to school together. 141 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:49,560 This could even be college or trade school. 142 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:57,200 A dime indicated that they worked together at some capacity in life and a quarter showing 143 00:10:57,200 --> 00:10:59,320 that they were with the person when they died. 144 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:03,280 If you're wondering why that's what's happening, I could think of several people that have 145 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:11,960 worked in law enforcement and EMS, fire, nurses, especially in emergency rooms that maybe a 146 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:15,520 particular death just hit them really hard where they did everything they could. 147 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:17,600 It was their time. 148 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:22,040 The Lord said, no, that's it and called them on. 149 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:27,320 So civilians do go out and they do participate in this as well. 150 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:33,120 So don't think that you can't leave some kind of trinket or anything if you didn't serve. 151 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:35,360 Yes, you can. 152 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:44,840 I'm speaking from the standpoint of a veteran here and all as well, not the pastor side. 153 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:47,440 Like I said, we've already covered that. 154 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:48,440 We know what's up. 155 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:51,120 Now we're just going into the practice. 156 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:56,520 Now here at this point, this is where I'm going to tell you what happens to these coins 157 00:11:56,520 --> 00:12:03,240 and I'll implore you, please, please, please leave them alone. 158 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:08,440 If you have kids or other people with you who don't know what's going on with these, 159 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:12,720 please educate them and get them to leave the coins as well. 160 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:18,360 Now if you go somewhere and a marker needs to be tidied up or anything and you see you 161 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:23,640 moving for that, that's fine, please do clean that marker and everything, but then put the 162 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:25,760 coins right back when you're done. 163 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:33,640 So what happens is there are workers or volunteers at various cemeteries and grave sites who 164 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:38,760 do go around and they do gather up all these coins periodically. 165 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:44,400 These go into a fund to help with the needs of the graveyard such as maintenance and grounds 166 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:52,120 keeping, in some cases even to help pay for the burial of other veterans or indigent persons 167 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:58,480 as well who maybe don't have anybody else there with funds or anything or other various 168 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:00,540 veteran services, that sort of stuff. 169 00:13:00,540 --> 00:13:06,040 So most of the people who leave these coins and these trinkets, they know that this is 170 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:09,280 what these funds are going to be used for. 171 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:14,560 And let's face it, with the exception of the time that we spend at these sites ourselves, 172 00:13:14,560 --> 00:13:21,000 they're mostly forgotten about and they can truly use any financial assistance that they 173 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:22,000 get. 174 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:27,000 So again, with that said, please leave the coins and leave the trinkets that you find 175 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:34,560 because these things, they can't actually go on to bless somebody else or another family 176 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:39,520 that's struggling and just those funds do add up. 177 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:43,400 A penny here, a penny there, a dime here, a dime there, just like in your own life when 178 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:44,760 you're trying to save. 179 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:48,360 Every little coin that you get eventually it all builds up and it can go to something 180 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:51,480 good and that's what happens here. 181 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:57,680 So I pray that this has been informative and that it helps you or someone that you know 182 00:13:57,680 --> 00:14:04,280 to better understand the meaning not only behind the coins but what it means to those 183 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:09,200 who leave them and who it can possibly go to bless. 184 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:11,920 So I'll catch you next time. 185 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:12,920 God bless. 186 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:34,920 Take care.