Marymount University presented 40 specially minted “challenge coins” to students, faculty and staff members who served in the United States armed forces as part of its annual Veterans Day Luncheon on November 11. More than 100 people attended the event.
“The coins are a symbol from the university to all the veterans who attend school and work here that shows how much Marymount appreciates their service,” said Joe A. Blount Jr., the school’s coordinator for military and veteran student services.
Blount said challenge coins date back to Roman times, though their first recorded use with American forces came in WWI when they were given to an aviation unit. Blount noted that a visiting veteran who had fought in Vietnam approached him after the luncheon and said the event was the first time anyone had ever thanked him for his service.
Dr. Daniel Gerstein, a retired U.S. Army colonel and the deputy under secretary for Science & Technology in the Department of Homeland Security, spoke at the event.
