Print article When David Díaz went for a recent 5-mile run in Iowa City, he took along a partner he has depended on for more than a year: his face mask. Díaz, 29, knew he did not have to. He’s fully vaccinated, and recent federal guidance says unmasked, outdoor ex ercise is safe. At first, he wore the mask around his neck. But after passing people one block later, he pulled it up - and then began wondering why. Was he posturing? Was he showing concern for others? Was he worried passersby would view him as an anti-masker? Was he actually being anti-science?
People who embraced masks are now recalibrating their relationship with an accessory that has served as a shield against a deadly pathogen, a security blanket during a crisis, and a symbol – of regard for the common good, liberal politics or belief in science.
82nd Airborne’s special relationship with D-Day village endures virtually amid pandemic December 15, 2020 On Tuesday, the 82nd Airborne Division held an unboxing event for postcards sent from the residents of Sainte-Mere-Eglise, France in lieu of the in-person commemorative traditions interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Maj. Lloyd E. Bedford III/Army) Troops from the 82nd Airborne Division held a virtual unboxing of postcards from the people of Sainte-Mère-Église, France on Tuesday, in a post-COVID continuation of the division’s long-standing relationship with the village that began on the morning of June 6, 1944 D-Day. Before dawn that day, thousands of 82nd paratroopers floated into the village and surrounding countryside as part of the Allied invasion of Normandy. One soldier, John Steele, landed with his parachute caught on the steeple of the local church, a scene immortalized in “The Longest Day” and in-person at the historic church, where a parachute du