Memorial Day
It's Memorial Day observed. A day of remembrance of those killed in the line of duty for the United States. The numbers are significant. The Civil War was the deadliest of all with estimates of more or less 700,000 dead or almost 2.4% of the population. World War II took away over 400,000. Since then we have had the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Middle East wars, and numerous lesser skirmishes with fatalities. The deaths in all of these battles add up to a bit over 100,000. The United States has secured no clear victories since World War II and many have come to see these wars as inadvisable if not disastrous.
We have a present enemy and we are at war again. It's the coronavirus. And we are not doing well.
Here are the numbers. They are non-partisan. The NY Times reported more than 1,650,000 cases.
That's 505 cases per 100,000 or one in every 198 people. That puts us on a par with the very worst numbers coming out of Europe from Ireland, Spain and Belgium and way worse than the early hot spots of Iran and Italy. We had fair warning. We are not doing well.
Our death rates from COVID-19 is increasing and is now a 30 death per 100,000. It is much less than Belgium (82) and roughly half the fatality rate in Spain, Italy and the UK, but nothing like South Korea or Germany. As of today, we have lost 97,684 Americans. Deaths attributed to the virus will soon reach 100,000. Some time in June we will have lost as many to COVID-19 as have died in all the wars since World War II, seventy-five years ago.
On this Memorial Day we should not only mourn the soldiers, sailors and airmen who lost their lives in defense of America, but also those on the front lines in the fight against the coronavirus - the doctors, nurses, other medical service personnel, and those who serve the public directly whose jobs are a risk to themselves and are being lost.
We have a present enemy and we are at war again. It's the coronavirus. And we are not doing well.
Here are the numbers. They are non-partisan. The NY Times reported more than 1,650,000 cases.
That's 505 cases per 100,000 or one in every 198 people. That puts us on a par with the very worst numbers coming out of Europe from Ireland, Spain and Belgium and way worse than the early hot spots of Iran and Italy. We had fair warning. We are not doing well.
Our death rates from COVID-19 is increasing and is now a 30 death per 100,000. It is much less than Belgium (82) and roughly half the fatality rate in Spain, Italy and the UK, but nothing like South Korea or Germany. As of today, we have lost 97,684 Americans. Deaths attributed to the virus will soon reach 100,000. Some time in June we will have lost as many to COVID-19 as have died in all the wars since World War II, seventy-five years ago.
On this Memorial Day we should not only mourn the soldiers, sailors and airmen who lost their lives in defense of America, but also those on the front lines in the fight against the coronavirus - the doctors, nurses, other medical service personnel, and those who serve the public directly whose jobs are a risk to themselves and are being lost.
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