Time was not so very long ago, that when we were attacked, our government would, of course, move swiftly to keep and make us safe. As an immediate step, they called in the Marines. Or if the invasion grew the military response grew with tanks, bombers, battleships and large armies, and even nuclear weapons.
But coronaviruses are a very different kind of enemy. It doesn’t help to shoot them! Or roll over them with tanks, or bomb them.
In those days, before COVID-19, our sculptors, artists, painters, artisans created monuments and great statues and great paintings that populated all our cities, saluting our heroes, usually military men and women.
That seemed very appropriate and fully justified given the heroic self-sacrifice our men and women, mostly young, made for their country’s safety and honor. The great generality of the people themselves suffered terribly from the extreme disruption of their and their children’s lives, the bombing, privations, deadly sorrows, and utter mayhem of the war.
And now? It’s different. In some ways, it’s even worse. The suffering grows but from a different and deadly cause. The darkness of panic deepens as we close with an unseen enemy, seemingly without success as we try to overcome it. A different kind of heroism is needed. It greets us every day. Doctors, nurses, caregivers, technical people and all health-related workers are the new heroes. I would include grocery workers, too. They all need our full support.
They need to be acknowledged as the saviors of our country. Such acknowledgment is beginning and will swell as this plague wears on. We need sculptors, artists, painters, artisans to do statues and portraits for their dedication, their sacrifice, their courage, their skill. They are in a mortal struggle with an extremely dangerous and insidious enemy. We are on the verge of discovering a new patriotism.
John Rensenbrink,
Topsham
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