Editor,

I am writing in response to Joseph Moreland’s letter to the editor in the May 30 edition of the Whidbey News-Times.

He talked a lot about freedom; I would like to consider sacrifice.

You may not believe the scientists, doctors, or even the patients and families who’ve lived, died and gone through hell with this virus, but one right Americans don’t have is willingly putting others’ lives in danger. And whether you believe the science or the horror stories or not, by refusing to follow these simple restrictions, you’re doing exactly that.

We have no treatment for this virus. People get it; many of them die. In agony. Alone.

You have the power to help prevent that. That some people in this country today – one built on so much sacrifice – howl in protest when human lives are at stake, is contrary to this country’s very fabric.

Right now, we’re being asked to sacrifice a little to save many lives, a plea both divine and patriotic that is what both the Navy and Christianity hold dear. Think of what Americans of prior generations were asked to do for their country and its people that they did without hesitation – during both World Wars, the Civil War and even after 9/11. Being asked to stay home and wear a mask in public is nothing compared to what they gave up for us. It’s not an infringement of your freedom or mine, sir, it’s standing together in A More Perfect Union for the greater good.

This moment isn’t about individual freedom. It’s about how strong we are as a nation and a community to overcome something that has killed nearly as many of us as died in the First World War, a number we will soon surpass. Sacrifice wasn’t too much to ask of the American people then; why should it be now? We took up arms then and many times after because we believe that people in this country shouldn’t have to die for no good reason.

We did it for each other, sacrificed our children and, after 9/11, many of our freedoms at home. Why should today, with so many lives at stake and such a small, temporary ask to help save them, be any different?

And if it’s “mass vaccinations” you’re worried about, not to put too fine a point on it, but when’s the last time you had polio or smallpox?

William Harper

Seattle