Honoring Memories on Flag Day and Beyond

As you travel this summer, you might consider taking along some coins. No, not to pay for toll roads but to leave on graves and memorials. According to the Wounded Warrior Project website, the tradition traces back to the Roman Empire when coins were placed into the mouths of fallen soldiers to pay for passage and protection across the River Styx, which was believed to separate the world of the living from the world of the dead. Similarly, in Navy mythology, coins were placed under the mast of a ship to pay the "ferryman" for safe transport to the afterlife in the event that sailors died at se...