More than 200 U.S. active duty and retired service members are vowing to hold senior military leaders in the Biden administration — "who broke the law" — accountable for establishing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The Pentagon made COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for service members in August 2021, and 8,000 service members were discharged for not taking it.
"While implementing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, military leaders broke the law, trampled on constitutional rights, denied informed consent, permitted unwilling medical experimentation and suppressed the free exercise of religion," read a letter from active duty service members and veterans sent Monday to senior military leaders. A copy of the letter, titled a Declaration of Accountability, was posted on X by Brad Miller, who describes himself as a former Army officer.
"I sent it on behalf of myself & 230 other signatories of the letter," Miller wrote in his post. "The letter is not addressed to the military leaders but rather to the American people. The email was merely to inform these military leaders that there is group of troops & vets pledging to the American public that we will do everything lawfully within our power to stop the willful destruction of our military by its own leadership.
"Let's take our country back in 2024 & let's begin by defending our military from its own leadership."
The Pentagon rescinded the vaccine mandate in January of last year after Congress passed language in the National Defense Authorization Act for the 2023 fiscal year, the defense department's annual budget, calling for it to end. None of the service members who were discharged for not taking the vaccine has been reinstated.
The senior military leaders mentioned in the letter included retired Army Gen. Mark Milley, whose term as chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ended in September; Adm. Christopher Grady, vice chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff; retired Army Gen. James McConville, the Army chief of staff from 2019-2023; and retired Navy Adm. Michael Gilday, the chief of naval operations from 2019-2023 and numerous others.
"These individuals enabled lawlessness and the unwilling experimentation on service members," the letter stated. "The moral and physical injuries they helped inflict are significant. They betrayed the trust of service members and the American people. Their actions caused irreparable harm to the armed forces and the institutions for which we have fought and bled."
The House Oversight Committee's Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic held a hearing in July that found COVID-19 vaccine mandates reduced military readiness and potentially harmed America's national security "by forcing the healthiest among us to receive the vaccine or face involuntary separation from military service."
"In the coming years, thousands within our network will run for Congress and seek appointments to executive branch offices, while those of us still serving on active duty will continue to put fulfilling our oaths ahead of striving for rank or position," the letter stated. "For those who achieve the lawful authority to do so, we pledge to recall from retirement the military leaders who broke the law and will convene courts-martial for the crimes they committed.
"For those of us who attain legislative offices, we pledge to introduce legislation to remove all retirement income for the military leaders who were criminally complicit, and we will ensure none serve in or retire from the Senior Executive Service."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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