WWI Vet gravestone tradition?

[DSmith]

My wife and I were walking through a cemetery in Iowa this Memorial
Day and noticed that a group of WWI veteran gravestones all had
pennies placed on them. The pennies were all heads-up. We did not
notice the pennies on any graves except WWI vets'.

Any ideas about the origin and meaning of this? I'm beginning to
suspect that it is a local tradition set up by that regiment or
platoon.

Thanks in advance.

[Stanley L Lock]

dsm...@buckledown.com (DSmith) wrote in message news:<62f6a12a.04060...@posting.google.com>...

Dear DSmith,

What folows is speculation on my part.
The pennies could be an related to paying the ferryman tradition from
Greek Mythology.
Amongst the more tradional and classically educated young men of world
war i generation, this idea would have been a a possible remerbance
tradition started after the end of world war I.
Probadly your best bet is to track down someone in the local World
War II VFW and ask them about the pennies on the gravestones.

yours truly,

Stanleverlock