A Twitter account begun during the pandemic to highlight Covid-19 victims has a new mission for Veterans Day: it is recognizing veterans who lost their lives to the virus every hour.
Alex Goldstein started Faces of Covid in March to share the stories of those who have died from the coronavirus.
“We’ve shared over 3,000 stories to date of those who have lost their lives to COVID in the U.S., and unfortunately all signs indicate I’ll be doing this for a long time,” Goldstein told CNN.
Since establishing the account, Goldstein said that he has used holidays or events to emphasize stories with “a thematic and hopefully impactful purpose,” and Veterans Day is no exception.
Goldstein decided to share the stories of those who sacrificed their lives for freedom every hour on Wednesday.
“Telling the stories of veterans lost to COVID-19 on a day when the country is focused on veterans feels like an important way of telling the full story, with stories and context, about the way in which veterans are being impacted by this virus right now,” he said.
“We owe a tremendous debt to our veterans for what they were willing to sacrifice, and it is unconscionable that we have let them down through grave mismanagement of this pandemic response,” Goldstein said.
“I believe we make better policy when we are willing to actually see the people and read the names of the people behind our policy decisions — it’s a big part of why I’ve invested the time and effort I have in Faces of Covid,” its creator said.
The posts feature a picture and the name of the veteran, the age at the time of death, and the veteran’s home town. It also shares the veteran’s military branch, and any awards received for service. A link to a longer story from the media outlet or obituary that featured them is then attached at the bottom for more information.
See the tweets at Faces of Covid.
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