The New York Times has a remarkable front page commemorating the 100,000 who have died over the last 3 months during our struggle with COVID-19. It has the names of 1,000 of them (1% of the total) with a brief description of something personal about them — lest they be simply dismissed as a statistic. This milestone coming during Memorial Day Weekend, I observed that COVID-19 was on pace to be more lethal than any of our wars. Apparently not appreciating the significance of the phrase “on pace,” someone objected that World War II cost us 400,000 American lives.
But the second objection was more interesting. He complained that it wasn’t fair to compare COVID-19 deaths to “lives lost fighting for freedoms.” Memorial Day is to honor the men and women who died while in the military service. We don’t limit our respect to just those men and women whose lives were lost fighting for freedom. They did not get to pick and choose which wars or missions they were assigned to. We don’t honor the World War II death because he was fighting against Hitler while ignoring the casualties of the North Russia Intervention or Private Harry Eagan who died in the Sheepeater Indian War.
So should we minimize COVID-19 deaths as compared to military deaths? As I recall, we put 9/11 deaths way up on a pedestal with rhetoric comparable to how we’ve traditionally spoken of military deaths. The coronavirus is an enemy that has curtailed our freedom, damaged our economy, and generally threatened the citizens of the United States far more seriously than Iraq, North Vietnam, or North Korea ever could have. It’s implacable, insidious, and everywhere. Currently we’re losing a 9/11 worth of Americans every 2 or 3 days.
Is there a principled reason for valuing military deaths (including those who died during missions that did not protect freedom in any appreciable way) over COVID-19 deaths? Valuing 9/11 deaths over COVID-19 deaths? Or is it more of a reflexive cultural habit?
Put me squarely in the “reflexive cultural habit” camp.
True patriotism isn’t cheap. It’s about taking on a fair share of the burden of keeping America going. It doesn’t matter if you are soldier or a citizen .If you die in a noble or leaden way for your country your life and cause you died for should be celebrated !
Citizenship is an attitude, a state of mind, an emotional conviction that the whole is greater than the part…and that the part should be humbly proud to sacrifice itself that the whole may live.
Robert A. Heinlein
When 9/11 happened it was the first time since the civil war that the United States had lost citizens in such great numbers. COVID-19 has killed over 100,000 citizens and many of the people especially in nursing homes had no idea what was happening to them. Valuing 9/11 deaths over COVID-19 deaths? I suspect that the 9/11 tragedy which happened about 19 years ago has faded in most peoples minds
I know this sounds crass but the jury is still out on a day we could honor the COVID-19 people who have died.. Do we get a vaccine for the virus? If not the flu killed 61,200 last year and and if Fauci is right and the virus comes back in full.force we are going be in for a horrid time.We should honor COVID-19 and 9/11 First Responders on Memorial Day. We should honor the citizens that died on COVID-19 and 9/11 on their own special day.
A number of NGO’s are asking how many young will die as a result of hunger in the developing world as an indirect, though unintended, result of the COVID-19 related shutdowns. See https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/apr/15/will-we-die-of-hunger-how-covid-19-lockdowns-imperil-street-children Ehen you consider that COVID-19 overwhelmingly kills the elderly is the price of our “war” on COVID-19, like other wars, an imposition on the young for the benefit of the old?