Pandemic Politics: COVID-19 and the US military
By Eleanor Freund and Leah Matchett
During the coronavirus pandemic, the military has stepped up to help in a surprising way: with bodybags. The Pentagon has confirmed that it will be providing as many as 100,000 body bags to the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist in managing the death toll from the pandemic. The threat posed by the pandemic is not one that is suited to traditional military solutions, begging the question: what is the role of the military in responding to a national crisis that has killed more Americans than every war from the Korean War onwards…combined?