Yesterday President Donald Trump signed an executive order to reinstate service members who were booted from the military under former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's now-rescinded August 2021 COVID-19 shot mandate. The EO directs two of his cabinet members – Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (pictured above, right) and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem – to ensure that all members of the military (active and reserve) who request to be reinstated be restored to their prior rank and provided back pay and benefits.
As reported Monday by AFN, a former Army officer and Green Beret – while appreciative of the order – argues it "only scratches the surface" of the negative job repercussions suffered by American patriots who refused to take the injection. John Frankman is calling for accountability of military leaders who he contends "broke the law, violated religious rights, and left many service members vaccine-injured."
While not discounting Frankman's concerns, Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, sees the order in a more positive light. His legal group took legal action on behalf of service members who, based on religious grounds, rejected the "vaccines."
"I'm overjoyed with President Trump's executive order to bring justice to these men and women of the military and the armed services," he tells AFN. "They have been abused by the administration with these mandates. Many of them have lost their jobs, they've lost their livelihoods, they've lost their honor because of these mandates. In fact, some of them, frankly, have lost their lives."
Staver argues the new administration must come up with a way to help reinstate service members who have not been able to keep up with their peers.
"For example, a pilot doesn't have the hours now because they haven't been flying, or somebody else doesn't have the up-to-date training," he offers as examples. "I think what the military is going to have to do is provide some avenue to be able to expedite training and get these individuals back up to speed so that they could be at the same level and not have any loss of seniority or lost time."
The executive order, titled "Reinstating Service Members Discharged Under the Military's COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate," could affect more than 8,000 service members. Within 60 days, Hegseth and Noem will report to the president regarding their progress implementing the order.
