6 | MAY 7 • 2020 

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essay
The Faces of the Dead
O

n June 27, 1969, during the peak 
of the Vietnam War, Life Magazine
published a cover story that was 
immediately controversial. The cover 
featured a close-up photo of a young 
American soldier, with the words blaz-
ing “The Faces of the Americans Dead 
in Vietnam — One Week’
s 
Toll.
” Inside appeared the 
names and faces of the 242 
Americans who had lost 
their lives in Vietnam in the 
past week.
“We must pause to look 
into the faces,
” the magazine 
told us, since this “translates 
to direct anguish in hundreds of homes all 
over the country.
”
The story struck a nerve throughout 
America. In a country that was already torn 
apart over the war, seeing the fresh faces of 
those soldiers — young men, many with 
wide smiles — was a powerful reminder of 
the true human cost of the war. In a unique 
and profound way, seeing those images 
stirred the anger and the passion of both 
the pro-war and anti-war movements. 
A picture was, indeed, 
worth a thousand 
words. 
We are now in the 
depths of an insidious 
virus that kills indis-
criminately. In a mere 
two months, the death 
count skyrocketed from 
zero to more than 40,000. 
Each day we see charts 
and updates with the latest 
statistics, and it’
s easy to get 
desensitized to these num-
bers. It’
s easy to forget that 
while “flattening a curve” is 
good news, it’
s just a sterile 
mathematical way of saying that thousands 
of lives have been prematurely cut short 
and there’
ll be thousands more in the 
future, leaving love ones devastated. 
Making matters worse, we hear certain 
media personalities make shocking and 
recklessly insensitive comments about 

the loss of life. Rush 
Limbaugh said that “no 
matter how many people 
die from coronavirus, it’
s 
not going to equate to 
the damage done to the 
U.S. economy.
” Dr. Oz 
described the re-open-
ing of schools as a “very 
appetizing opportunity” 
and noted that he read a “nice piece” that 
said that opening of schools “may only 
cost us 2-3% in terms of total mortality.
” 
Bill O’
Reilly said that “many people who 
are dying, both here and around the world, 
were on their last legs anyway.
”
Each comment has the intent — and 
often the effect — of depersonalizing a 
human life. Dr. Oz’
s comments that a loss 
of life would “only” be a certain percentage 
is, unfortunately, often repeated. Whenever 
there’
s a slight reduction in the daily death 
count, we inevitably hear journalists or pol-
iticians report that the death count is “only” 
the new number (“Only 700 deaths today”). 
But referring to the dead as an “only” is a 
disservice to their memory 
and the height of callous-
ness. No one would ever 
refer to the death of their 
loved one as an “only.
” 
The use of such termi-
nology does incalculable 
damage. It allows the 
fallen to become inan-
imate, faceless and 
nameless. It allows 
some people to lose 
their compassion at a 
time when it’
s needed 
most. And it enables 
leaders to make seri-
ously flawed policy 
decisions. 
CNN recently took a page from Life 
Magazine’
s “One Week’
s Toll” story and cre-
ated an online memorial for people who 
have died from COVID-19. This digital 
version allows families to submit a photo 
and a brief description of their deceased 
loved one. Just as with Life Magazine 51 

years ago, we see vibrant faces of real 
human beings, beaming with life and 
hope. We see their smiles and their grit, 
just like seeing our own family photos. Life 
Magazine’
s admonishment to America in 
1969 is just as relevant today: Look careful-
ly at those faces because besides knowing 
“how many” there were, we also mustn’
t 
forget “who” they were. 
Several months into this coronavirus cri-
sis we find ourselves at a critical crossroad. 
The debate between the medical realities 
and the economic considerations has 
already heated up to a boiling point. More 
and more we see a demand to “re-open” the 
economy. As that happens, expect to hear 
louder and more callous words from some 
that minimize and depersonalize the dead. 
When we hear such things, we should 
remember the lessons of that Life Magazine
edition 51 years ago. We should visit the 
current CNN site and see the faces of the 
coronavirus dead. We should stare at those 
faces for a bit, read who they were, where 
they were from. For a moment, we should 
feel the sadness of their loss to their families 
and to us, maybe cry a little. 
If we ever get to the point of disregarding 
those faces and forgetting that they were 
once as human as we and our loved ones, 
we will have allowed this virus to take more 
from us than our fellow citizens. We will 
have allowed to it rob us of a piece of our 
human souls. 

Mark Jacobs is the AIPAC Michigan chair for African 

American Outreach, a co-director of the Coalition 

for Black and Jewish Unity, a board member of the 

Jewish Community Relations Council-AJC and the 

director of Jewish Family Service’
s Legal Referral 

Committee.

Mark Jacobs

