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Local View: In war against COVID-19, turn to patriotism for victory |
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Many Americans were reluctant to take seriously blackout orders during World War II just like many scoff at face masks now.
Written By: John Freivalds
Published: Dec 16th, 2020 – Duluth News Tribune
While we bemoan that many people still are not wearing face masks — some saying, “They impinge on my individual freedom!” — we seem to have long forgotten the similar issues during the worst of the blackouts during World War II.
This Dec. 7, I looked to see if there was any mention in the morning papers of the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. I found a tiny squib way in the back of the Star Tribune from Minneapolis and nothing in the very conservative and usually hawkish Wall Street Journal. While the News Tribune offered front-page coverage two straight days, in too many places elsewhere, the moment in history seems long gone.
Yet the selfish attitudes of many Americans have not changed — even if it means people’s lives are at stake.
The Washington Post notes that during World War II, Nazi submarines sank close to 4,000 merchant ships off the U.S. East Coast, killing 5,000 merchant marine sailors. The Nazi submarine captains called this their “happy time.”
And why not? Cities along the East Coast kept their lights on, perfectly silhouetting the merchant ships. At first, cities like New York refused to turn off their lights. So did houses along the seashore. It would hurt tourism and business, they argued. The West Coast had the same issues with blackout; the residents there made the same arguments — plus that it would impact individual freedom.
The Civil Defense authorities tried everything to get the lights turned off. They even asked a popular musician, Tony Poster, and his orchestra to come up with a jingle: “Obey your air raid warden,” he crooned. “Don’t get in a huff / Our aim is to call their bluff / Follow these rules and this is enough / Obey your air raid warden.”
The government sent 6 million wardens around the country to ensure people were turning off their lights at night. There was no law passed, just appeals to people’s common sense and patriotism.
And it finally worked.
Today, some people regard not wearing a mask as a political statement and react violently to being told to wear a mask. They won’t be told what to do by the government. And since there is no unanimity about masks, it’s hard to force compliance.In Florida, it’s OK to go without a mask, for example, while in California it isn’t. Worse, there is no one at the top saying, “Wear your mask!” Our governor says wear one, while South Dakota’s doesn’t. And then we have a president who never pushed mask wearing since it would make COVID-19 sound like a big thing. COVID-19 will just disappear, he said instead.
I don’t get it. We have prohibitions against smoking, not wearing seat belts, drunken and distracted driving, speeding, and passing stopped school buses. Few Americans get their noses bent out of shape by these. It is a civil thing to do not to harm other people.
President-elect Joe Biden has the right idea by asking people, not mandating them, to wear a mask for 100 days when he takes office. He’s adapting what worked during World War II, appealing to people’s patriotism.
Then it was to turn their lights off. Now, I say: sell star-spangled masks!
John Freivalds of Wayzata, Minnesota, is the author of six books and is the honorary consul of Latvia in Minnesota. His website is jfapress.com. He wrote this for the News Tribune.