I was not around during the beginning of World War II when Germany invaded Poland in September of 1939.  The Nazis had belief in the need for Lebensraum. Eminent domain was one of their many ethos that was backed up by force of arms. Simply put, they needed more living space and Poland and most of Central Europe was condemned property waiting to be re-developed

It is the post Polish invasion that reminds me of today’s battle with the coronavirus: Corvid-19. After Germany invaded Poland, France and England declared war on Germany. All sides sat around looking over their gun barrels for the next eight months in what was called a Phoney War.  There were a few minor battles but all sides were content at this time to prepare.  Britain began preparations for an aerial blitz that was sure to come. A conscription was put into place as well as rationing and the commandeering of public transportation for military use.  The Phoney War put them at ease, and made them little disgruntled with government efforts in the lew of any real combat.

Despite the preparations neither side had any idea how this Phoney War turned out to be a life and death struggle. Little did France realize what would hit them in May of 1940.  German tanks rolled through France and on to the Atlantic in less than a month pulling France down.  The British barely had enough time to get their troops off the continent and  began the process of sheltering in place on their island fortress .

Before I go on any further there is no way that I am comparing the Nazi swarm to a coronavirus–the Black Death maybe.  But France and Britain  had eight months to prepare for war in which they declared. And the way the Germans rolled them up makes you wonder how well they used that time getting ready for the inevitable, particularly after witnessing how quickly the German army and Luftwaffe–along with the Soviets–put Poland in a box.

What puzzles me is that we watched what happened in China as the coronavirus roared through Wuhan, a city of eleven million. And much like the British and French in 1939, we just looked with unmasked faces during the month of January and February watching and waiting as the coronavirus marched through Italy.

For most of our history as a nation the two oceans have protected us from all foreign enemies.  These oceans may have even protected us to some extent from viral airborne invasions.  But the global world in which we live events and diseases can jump oceans and continents over night. A slow moving local disease can now become a blitzkrieg.

It was not long before the United States was dragged into the world at war. Much like our other Allies we were not prepared for battle. To quote a turn-of-the century Secretary of Defense who said before launching the nation into a decade of war in the Mideast: “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.”

Unfortunately, that is true and can be said about many things. But in World War II the United States got up from being sucker punched and began producing enough war material to supply not only our own armies but our Allies, too.  It was Rosie the Riveter: “We can do it.”

It brings to mind the story of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown.  Badly damaged at the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Yorktown managed to get back to Pearl Harbor for repairs.  Engineers determined it would take at least two weeks around-the-clock to make the repairs needed. The problem was Naval Intelligence discovered that the Japanese Imperial Navy was in the process of invading Midway Island. They did not have two weeks. Admiral Chester Nimitz told the Navy Yard that the Yorktown was needed and that they had two days to get the Yorktown out to sea. Much to the surprise of the Japanese navy, the Yorktown was there and played a significant role in America’s victory, a victory considered the turning point of the war in the Pacific.

During that war we were cranking out tanks, airplanes and ships by the thousands not to mention all the other necessities.  I find it difficult to believe a country that could build a space program from the ground up, put a man on the moon and bring him back safely today cannot provide enough surgical masks, cotton swabs, and other simple medical needs to combat covid-19.

Granted, we might not have the necessary equipment now but in the past we could and did what needed to be done get the job done.  We may be going to war with the health system we have, but that needs to change. It is time to step up the A(merican)-game. Instead of talking about making America great again, realize We can do it!