The Cost of War

Word War II started for the United States on December 7th, 1941, a date that will live in infamy.  The war effort encompassed the globe, with the bulk of US forces fighting in the Western European and Pacific Theaters.  In Europe, the hard fought northern Africa and Italian campaigns would be a precursor for Operation Overlord, the Normandy Invasion.  Through hard fought battle after hard fought battle, the US forces, along with the rest of the allies, brought Germany to its knees on May 8th, 1945.  The war was over for Europe.

The Pacific campaign was insanity.  Capturing islands the Japanese had secured and heavily fortified was a long and arduous task, but one the US and her allies managed to pull off.  Midway, Guadalcanal, Tarawa, the Philippines, Iwo Jima; every island was a challenge, every island was a battle. The decision was made to drop the two atomic bombs instead of attempting what would've been a drawn out land invasion of Japan.  Faced with the potential annihilation of their country, the Japanese surrendered on August 15th, 1945.

The US was at war with the Axis Powers for a total of 1347 days. The total US casualty count for WWII is listed as 405,399.

Today, January 17th, 2021, the number of US citizens who have died from Corona Virus has surpassed the total death count of WWII.  The number as I type (from Worldometer.com's tracking site) is 407,202.

The first US case of CoronaVirus was reported on January 20th, 2020, at a hospital in Washington state, meaning we've surpassed the total losses from WWII in only 363 days.

I remember when COVID-19 first got to the US and a conservative woman I'm friends with decided to lie.  "This is no more serious than the seasonal flu!"  It was such a tepid lie.  She, along with most Trump supporters, knew Trump was never going to be up to the challenge of a major pandemic, so they started screaming how 'it was no big deal' in an effort to win over expectations.  They knew Corona Virus would be bad, so they lied hoping some miracle would prevent them from having to admit they were wrong.  Seasonal flu kills around 30,000 people annually in the US, but my friend and the rest of the Trump fans changed their tactic when the death numbers contradicted their initial bellowing.  When the death count crossed 50,000, the lie changed to 'Corona Virus is NOW a myth, not really dangerous, not really deadly.'

It isn't a myth, and their intentional ignorance will forever be tied to the failure of Trump's response.

Trump has been a disaster with Corona Virus, even suggesting ingesting bleach as a method for treating the disease.  The United States is HANDS DOWN the worst place on the planet for the virus, primarily due to intentional stupidity.

To be fair, our healthcare system was glaringly ill prepared. Abused by greed, we no longer had a health care system focused on healing the sick, but rather one based on maximizing profits.  It was grossly inadequate when this crisis began, and still today seems more held together by the brave medical professionals who have to work under money driven corporate overlords.  Bubble gum and prayers...

The only two massive death events in US history WORSE than COVID-19 are the Civil War (620,000 dead) and the 1918 Flu Outbreak (which ALSO was not just the seasonal flu. 675,000 dead).  Due to Trump ceasing to care at all about the crisis after he lost the election, and due to the Trump Administration lying about the amount of vaccine we had as a nation in reserve, there's a legit chance we could surpass one or both of those death counts.

Because of stupidity.

In most towns in America, both big and small, there are Veteran's memorials.  Most towns I know have both a WWI and a WWII memorial; hallowed ground to be solemnly revered.  As a Veteran myself, I always get a touch emotional when I see those memorials.  Now I'm forced to ask if we'll have to build new statues in every community, a new reminder of the great Corona Virus losses we've endured.

I'm sure most Trump supporters will begin to take Corona Virus seriously...on January 21st, just like reigning in deficits and limiting executive power.  They'll convince themselves of a brand new lie.  'Not a single person died of COVID-19 under Trump's watch, but as soon as Joe Biden took command, 407,202 people died immediately.  HOW DARE HE FAIL US!'  Trust me, they'll convince themselves Trump wasn't responsible.

One of the saddest parts of this crisis is how many of the last survivors of WWII have been taken by the virus.  The last veterans, both of combat and from the home front, are now in their 90's.  The Greatest Generation sure as heck didn't deserve to be treated like this in the end.  Nor did the Baby Boomers.  All age groups have lost people to COVID-19, and regardless of age, these are human beings we are losing!  Conservatives react to the elderly passing like a TV show getting cancelled. "They were old and past their prime anyway."  The elderly of this country don't deserve the be put on a Viking boat, set it ablaze and pushed it out into the lake just because dismissing their existence makes for better talking points for Trump.

Republicans like to remind everyone of the major sacrifices made by the men and women who died in WWII, but are not willing to make minor sacrifices to save more people from dying from CoronaVirus today!  It's a shame the same people who've claim to respect for the elderly have shown us how little they ever cared.

The cost of war is always great, especially when it's a war we could've won months ago.