President Donald Trump declared during his inaugural address to reinstate thousands of service members fired by Joe Biden for refusing the COVID vaccine with back pay.
‘This week, I will reinstate any service members who were unjustly expelled from our military for objecting to the COVID vaccine mandate with full backpay,’ he said on Monday during his inauguration.
During the pandemic, 8,400 service members who refused to be vaccinated for religious or medical reasons were forced out of the military.
The reinstatement of these individuals is a good step forward, but doesn’t go far enough according to the troops who remained in the military despite their vaccine objections and are still ‘suffering to this day.’
For four years, they’ve been passed over for trainings, promotions and other critical opportunities, they say. And it’s negatively impacted them professionally and personally.
Active duty service members tell DailyMail.com that there must be immediate action taken by Trump and his Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth to ‘rejuvenate our military by restoring trust.’
Retired U.S. Air Force commander John McAfee said that due to Biden administration’s liberal policies over 95,000 total troops were pushed out.
‘Demoralization from DEI, lack of accountability, and shameful [Afghanistan] withdrawal were icing on the #COVIDpurge cake,’ he went on.
Trump’s defense secretary pick former Fox News host Pete Hegseth has signaled that he’s in support of back pay, restored ranks and also an apology

During his Senate confirmation hearing he told lawmakers: ‘Service members who were kicked out because of the experimental vaccine… they will be apologized to. They will be reinstituted with pay and rank’

President Donald Trump declared during his inaugural address to reinstate service members fired by Joe Biden for refusing the COVID vaccine with back pay
And many ‘refusers still serve and suffer to this day from the politicized, weaponized Biden policies that targeted conservatives.’
‘There is a multitude of current service members suffering from moral injury and jab injury, disillusioned and combat ineffective. Trust must be restored for all of these service members to return to service and their families to let them.’
A handful of those men and women in uniform who ‘organized the resistance’ against Biden’s policies have drafted their own COVID executive order they are urging Trump to sign.
The order specifically addresses the ‘root causes and symptoms’ that is negatively impacting recruitment, retention and readiness due to a ‘lack of trust.’
It would, in addition to restoring backpay and reinstatement of troops, make sure there is accountability.
That includes issuing ‘record corrections’ for not only fired troops, but for those that had to endure career setbacks due to ‘disciplinary actions’ for refusing to be vaccinated.
They are also demanding an apology coming from the Pentagon’s top brass.
Trump’s defense secretary pick former Fox News host Pete Hegseth has signaled that he’s in support of back pay, restored ranks and also an apology.
During his Senate confirmation hearing he told lawmakers: ‘Service members who were kicked out because of the experimental vaccine… they will be apologized to. They will be reinstituted with pay and rank.’
Hegseth has combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he served as a captain in the Army National Guard and won two Bronze Stars.
One unnamed service member told DailyMail.com that Trump should acknowledge the troops who have continued to serve despite facing ‘adverse actions to their career.’
He said that many individuals, including himself, have been set back years by the ‘consequences of the mandates.’

Hegseth has combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he served as a captain in the Army National Guard and won two Bronze Stars

Pete Hegseth with wife Jennifer on his instagram
But he went on to say that it’s an ‘incredible blessing’ to have been a major focus of Trump’s inaugural address, calling it ‘encouraging.’
‘I haven’t ever felt this heard by a politician,’ he added.
Another active duty service member told DailyMail.com they don’t know anyone who will rejoin the military if it doesn’t fix some deep-rooted issues.

During the pandemic, 8,400 service members who refused to be vaccinated for religious or medical reasons were forced out of the military
That includes ‘fixing the informed consent’ for vaccines, ‘loss of rights, lack of accountability, loss of promotability’ and more.
Another told DailyMail.com that ‘restoring trust’ is paramount to fix the damage done.
‘President Trump has the unique opportunity to ensure this happens in a timely manner if he issues an executive order for this.’
‘This would not only show that he cares about these service members but boldly demonstrate to their families that he is making a good faith effort [to] repair the harms that they suffered by extension.’
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk