Death by numbers: How Vietnam War and coronavirus changed the way we mourn

[90DayFinancier 910]

https://theconversation.com/death-by-numbers-how-vietnam-war-and-coronavirus-changed-the-way-we-mourn-137675

 

At some point in late April, COVID-19 claimed the life of its 58,221st victim in the United States. We do not know the victim’s name or the exact time of death, but the death was significant: It meant that the coronavirus had claimed more American lives than the entire Vietnam War.

That conflict, which lasted from 1955 to 1975, resulted in the deaths of 58,220 Americans. COVID-19 surpassed that number in less than four months.

Much like the nightly death counts that took place during the Vietnam era, the grim figures of the current crisis can obscure the fact that those who have perished were human beings, mourned by those they leave behind.

As a veteran and historian whose research examines burial rituals, I know that the way Americans memorialize the dead is steeped in traditions that are both social and cultural. COVID-19 is complicating these longstanding traditions.

[Boiler 45,956]

19 I seem to remember was the age for Vietnam, 91 is more likely for COVID.

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

US flu deaths

 

2018-2019 - 34,157

2017-2018 - 61,099

2016-2017 - 38,230

2015-2016 - 22,705 (And the hits just KEEP on a-comin'...  I could go on, but I think 4 years is more than sufficient to make the point)

 

4 year total - 156,191

 

 

Vietwhat?  What is this asininity, trying to compare a WAR to a VIRUS?