Daegan Page family, others find comfort at Omaha's National Cemetery
Seventeen pennies and four quarters found on the Marine Corporal's headstone symbolize visits from service members.
Seventeen pennies and four quarters found on the Marine Corporal's headstone symbolize visits from service members.
Seventeen pennies and four quarters found on the Marine Corporal's headstone symbolize visits from service members.
As loved ones filed in and out of Omaha National Cemetery, the family of Daegan Page found loose change on top of the Marine Corporal's headstone.
Seventeen pennies and four quarters symbolize visits from service members, adding up on this Remembrance Day.
"I think it does bring to light that we are not alone," Daegan's mom Wendy Adelson said.
Hundreds of veterans' loved ones took in the Memorial Day Service – watching wreaths honor each service branch, a rifle salute, taps, and a flyover by a KC-135 Stratotanker.
"The Marine Corps hymn always trips me up, for sure," Wendy said.
Life after Daegan doesn't get easier after learning the mastermind behind the Kabul airport bombing was killed. But being around a community of other families brings comfort.
Daegan's girlfriend Jessica now shares that feeling on the Corporal Daegan Page Foundation Facebook page – posting stories of other service members.
"It's important to me because, you know, Daegan's story was such a big story," Jessica said. "It was heard all over the place because of the situation But there are other fallen servicemembers whose stories aren't heard like that."
Now trying to differentiate the meaning of quarters versus pennies, Daegan's family found comfort at Omaha's National Cemetery.
"I don't think that closure is something that will probably ever fully come to me," Wendy said. "Daegan will be with me every day, and closure on his life isn't something that I anticipate would ever happen."
Wendy says the coins found on his headstone will go toward the Omaha National Cemetery. Organizers say they're adding more room for caskets and cremation sites.