Are we in a war with the Coronavirus? Some say we are and, although it’s not the same, I can see a few commonalities with World War II.

A lot of people may not know that at the beginning of WWII there were severe shortages of weapons. Draftees and Federalized National Guard troops had to train with wooden sticks as rifles and trucks as tanks. It took months for American industry to convert over to war production.

We were not prepared for war then and we were not prepared to combat this virus.

Today, we have shortages of personal protective equipment for our healthcare workers. We don’t have enough ventilators for critically ill patients. We don’t have enough tests. Some industries have converted from their normal production over to production of medical equipment and protective gear for the front line medical workers, like General Motors making ventilators, Carhartt and Hanes making gowns and masks. Many distillers have switched from making alcoholic beverages to antibacterial hand sanitizer. Others companies, like 3M and Kimberly Clark, are working around the clock to produce masks, but there will still be shortages until industry can catch up to the demand.

The people who have jumped in and are sewing cloth masks remind me of the people who rolled bandages and conducted scrap drives during World War II. People gathered up anything that could be reused for war materials, from paper to cooking oils to rubber to metal, because they wanted to help in some way, just like the seamstresses are today.

During World War II to ensure that enough raw materials went to industry for manufacturing war materials, strict rationing went into effect. Things like meat, butter, sugar, clothing, shoes, rubber, and much more were rationed. Production of consumer goods ground to a halt as industry shifted to making airplanes, guns, tanks and ships. Today some goods are becoming hard to get. These goods are not going to war production, rather we are either not manufacturing them because plants are shut down to keep from spreading the virus or we are not importing them due to the Coronavirus related shut downs overseas.

Hoarding and price gouging were also problems during World War II. Back then it wasn’t toilet paper. It was food. A thriving black market developed between people obtained goods illegally and those who had money and were willing to pay any price. If you were caught selling goods on the black market, you went to jail. In recent months, people trying to price gouge to make a profit selling hoarded items have found themselves in legal trouble as well.

During WWII people were separated from their loved ones but in a different way than what is happening now. Men and women serving in the military were sent far from home first for training and then into combat. Other Americans moved to places where they could work in defense manufacturing, leaving home and loved ones behind. People waited patiently for the mail to arrive bringing news from a far away loved one.

Finally, death is another similarity. Soldiers died far from home. If they were lucky, a friend was with them. Today Coronavirus victims die alone without family and friends at their side. Almost every household in America lost someone during World War II. The way this pandemic is going everyone in America probably knows someone with the virus. And before it is over, many of us will know someone who died from it. That is the saddest comparison of all.

Just like during World War II, we are all in this crisis together. Our weapons are social distancing and hand-washing. Meanwhile we wait for better, more effective weapons to treat and prevent this terrible disease that has invaded our country.