What’s behind the challenge coins the Sycamore Hy-Vee distributed to veterans?

If you’re not in the military, then you may not know why Hy-Vee handed veterans attending the grocer’s annual Veterans Day breakfast commemorative coins, but those who served know it’s a bit of military tradition. Many veterans also know the commemorative token Hy-Vee gave them is called a challenge coin, and it could earn or cost them a beer. Groups within the U.S. Armed Forces, like infantry units, squadrons or submarine crews, have coins that represent them. Service members sometimes exchange them for another group’s coin. DeKalb veteran Michael Embrey, a composer and ranger for the U.S. Air Force Band during the Vietnam War, said challenge coins are also used for a bar game. “Now, here’s the catch ... if someone says, ‘Where’s your challenge coin?’ if you don’t have it, you have to buy them a drink,” Embrey said. “If you do have it, they have to buy you a drink.” What Hy-Vee handed out to veterans on Wednesday imitated those coins and included a nod to the nation’s 250th anniversar