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A law firm that fights for religious liberty says it's "noteworthy" that nearly four dozen members of Congress are supporting its lawsuit against mandatory COVID-19 injections being imposed by the Pentagon on members of the military. Read more ... |
Thousands of U.S. Marines are refusing to get vaccinated – and as a result are taking a huge risk of getting booted from the Corps, despite having served their country well. American Family News spoke to a Marine Corps officer who said he wanted to remain anonymous – and make it very clear that his views do not reflect the views of the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of the Navy, or the U.S. Marine Corps.
The officer says the USMC continues to live out its motto, Semper fidelis ("Always Faithful") – but seems to be most faithful at denying religious exemptions to those who, for valid reason, wish to opt out of taking the coronavirus shot. Based on firsthand experience, he contends that what's happening to Marines refusing the COVID jab for any reason – including the denial of their requests for a religious accommodation – is not simply an "administrative separation," but is more appropriately described as a "type of punishment."
The officer references the 667-page Marine Corps Separation and Retirement manual, explaining that options currently exist to separate someone from the Marine Corps "at the convenience of the government" for "refusal of medical treatment" and for "refusing inoculations."
The manual (MARCORSEPMAN) gives a commander the discretion to separate a Marine even "if the refusal of medical treatment is determined to be reasonable," he explains. Like others in the Marine Corps, he argues that natural immunity is much more effective against COVID than the current experimental "vaccines" – and he considers this a "reasonable" argument to refuse the injection.
No longer just 'refusal'
However, despite the fact that commanders in the Marine Corps are allowed to separate a Marine for simply "refusing inoculation," he says "the Corps is choosing a different way to categorize those who they are separating for refusing to be vaccinated with the experimental – and ineffective – COVID vaccines."
The Marine Corps, he states, is instead choosing to separate these Marines under the category of "commission of a serious offense," which has the stigma of misconduct – much like other offenses (e.g., drug abuse, rape, sexual assault, and more).
"And this allows the Marine Corps to strip away the 'honorable' characterization of a Marine's service," he describes.
The other four characterizations of a discharge that the Corps might choose include "general (under honorable conditions), "other than honorable," "bad-conduct," or "dishonorable."
"Depending on which one of these is chosen, it can affect the benefits for that Marine for the rest of his or her life," the officer explains.
For example, he says, "even if the Corps chooses a general discharge (under honorable conditions), the Marine loses GI Bill benefits and any educational assistance that would have been afforded to him or her after serving the country honorably for a few decades."
And assuming that particular Marine has four children and assigning one year of tuition to each of them, "these children risk losing the educational benefit earned by their father over nearly two decades of service and multiple combat tours to both Iraq and Afghanistan," he adds.
What's worse, he adds, is that the Marine's children risk the loss of this benefit because "their father is standing strong for his Christian faith and for promoting the virtue of reason in the face of this unconstitutional vaccine mandate."
The proud Marine Corps officer laments: "What kind of message does this send to other Marines? What kind of message does it send to the American people about how much the Marine Corps leadership cares about the strongly held religious beliefs of its personnel when they are denying 100% of all requests for religious accommodation and 100% of all appeals – and then stripping away honorable discharges as they separate Marines?"
A purge isn't pending … it's happening now
The Marine emphasizes that perhaps the primary mission of all branches of the U.S. military is to protect Americans' freedoms.
"And one of those freedoms is the ability to choose whether one submits to a medical procedure," he argues. "[But] many of those who would stand between forced vaccinations and the American people are being purged from the ranks."
According to the Marine officer, most of the people he knows in the ranks who are refusing the vaccine are not only "the best and brightest" but also "critical thinkers who have done their own research, and who have the courage to stand by their moral principles."
Regardless, many across the DoD who are being separated for refusing the jab are pilots and individuals who aspire to be special operators. "Almost all are devout in their faith," he tells AFN. "But some just choose reason and common sense over blind obedience."
A powerful solution: prayer
The officer then shares a personal note about a resulting, intangible loss – a loss he says many others in the Corps are seeing as well:
"These are not people who can be 're-created' overnight to defend the United States of America," he warns. "I feel like the Marine Corps is trampling upon its motto 'Semper Fidelis' and its core values of honor, courage, and commitment.
"So, all [these Marines] can do is pray," the officer concludes, adding that others can join in and "pray for the Marines being persecuted – and pray that military leadership will make a course correction."
Prayer, he acknowledges, may be the only solution to stopping the military from going down a path on which unvaccinated people are accused of committing a serious offense.
