Memorial Day and Public Health
Updated: Jun 10
Did you know that most of the over 1.2 million military personnel who have given their lives in service to our country did not actually die in combat? That's right. They died from infectious disease. Until relatively recently in our country's history, infectious disease killed the majority of the troops who entered a wartime theater, not combat operations.
Several issues exacerbated the spread of infectious disease among military personal during wartime deployments - poor hygiene (both among the troops and among medical personnel), poor sanitation and food safety practices, and crowded living conditions, chief among them. The recognition and acceptance of the germ theory of disease and the advances in public health practice that resulted from it - widespread handwashing (including and especially among medical personnel), water treatment and purification, and the provision and utilization of mosquito netting - helped to mitigate sickness and death from diseases such as cholera, dysentery, typhus, tetanus, typhoid fever, malaria, and yellow fever. The development of vaccines and the deployment of those vaccines among the troops further lessened the amount of sickness and death from the aforementioned diseases, as well as from diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza. The widespread implementation of these public health practices finally flipped the script. World War II was the first war in our country's history where more of our military personnel died as a result of combat operations, rather than infectious disease.
A well-funded public health workforce and a strong public health infrastructure are essential to our country's national security and the military readiness of our national defense forces. Unchecked disease spreading through the ranks not only lowers the overall numbers of military personnel available for combat operations but also erodes troop morale. A strong, well-funded public health system ensures a strong military and well-protected national borders.
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Updated on June 10, 2026
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