That’s the number of Americans who died in World War I. That includes combat and non-combat deaths. I’m sure many of those deaths were from the flu of the 1918 pandemic.
The number of Americans who have or will die during the CoVid-19 pandemic will almost certainly exceed that number next week. As you know, the deaths in this pandemic will have happened in less than four months. It (116,516) is a reference number that should be shared and mourned.
Source — Wikipedia under United States military casualties of war.