COVID-19: Death Warmed Over

Frontispiece from Bernardino Genga’s “Anatomia per uso et intelligenza del disengno…”, 1691,
via National Library of Medicine #2353013R

It’s 2020, Sunday, 29 March 2020, and there are now 142,106 CONFIRMED cases of COVID-19 novel coronavirus in the United States.

This morning at 0811, there were “124,686 ACTIVE cases of COVID-19 novel coronavirus.”

That’s a 17,420 difference, or an increase of 13.971095% in 12 hours. (Might as well call it 14%.)

Put another way, it’s an increase of 1.1666% every hour.

Extrapolating, at the current rate of 14% in a 12-hour period, tomorrow morning at 0800, there’ll be an additional

On the Bleeding Edge of the Front Line

Uncle Dean never spoke to his blood relatives about his WWII service – even though they inquired – which was for them, perplexing, and they eventually stopped asking. However, he voluntarily spoke at length about it with me.

Perhaps it was because we shared a common bond of military service, I don’t know. They never understood why he didn’t talk about his experience. His Purple Hearts, Bronze and Silver Stars, and other medals of valor that

All You Need Is Love

I recollect, a few years ago, having gone with a dear friend to the apartment where her former husband lived.

He had died alone.

D’Angelo (not his real name) was a retired Army NCO, whom had volunteered for service. He was genuinely a “squared away” soldier, and rose to the rank of First Sergeant (E-8), which rank is politely nicknamed “Top,” because, aside from Sergeant Major which is also an E-8 position, it is the highest rank and position a NCO can obtain.

His generosity was well-known, and his humility, honesty and genuine love for his fellow man was evident throughout his life. And though he was a good man with many admirable character qualities, a congenial fellow, well liked – even loved – by many, it seemed he never could win the battle over the bottle.

What little I know of him from others’ reports and my own limited interaction with him, he was an honorable family man. And yet, his family didn’t know it, and apparently had low regard for him because of his human frailty, particularly for the bottle.

When he had retired from the Army, never one to merely sit still and wait for things to happen, he became