Fox News has spoken with a number of US Marines, all of which they’ve granted anonymity to speak freely about Biden’s vaccine mandate and how they are being crushed for refusing to get the vaccine:
FOX NEWS – U.S. Marines are being “crushed” by President Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate as thousands face dismissal for their continued refusal to get the shot, several active-duty Marines told Fox News Digital.
To date, 169 Marines have been discharged for refusing the vaccine, and thousands more face the same fate after the Department of Defense’s mandate on all active-duty service members went into effect for the Marine Corps on Nov. 28.
Marines are allowed to apply for a religious exemption, but so far not a single application regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, or any vaccine for that matter, has been approved, a Marine Corps spokesman told Fox News.
Several Marines who refuse to get the shot were granted anonymity by Fox News Digital, so they could speak freely. They said they are witnessing a “political purge” by the Biden administration that is forcing out the military’s “best and brightest” over deeply held beliefs they say are protected by the First Amendment.
“There’s something fundamentally wrong at this point with our nation’s leadership,” said a major with more than 17 years of active service. “We are facing an unconstitutional edict that I think is very targeted as a political purge, taking out some of the best and brightest soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and guardians from the Space Force.”
A lieutenant colonel with more than 19 years of active service said it appears that the military, specifically the Marine Corps, is discharging service members “as fast as they can and as brutally as they can, damaging every Marine as much as they can on the way out.”
“The one message I got from the colonel above me was: ‘Tread very carefully, this is political, you will be crushed like an ant.’ And he told me that because he cares about me,” the lieutenant colonel said. “Do I want to continue serving in an institution that crushes people for bringing up reasonable points in defending their faith?”
One master sergeant said it seems that “the louder I speak the tighter the screws are turned against me.”
“When you’re expected to behave a certain way and to obey certain rules and follow certain processes, and then to see on the other end that that’s not a two-way street, that’s a violation of my morals that I can’t stand by and not speak out about,” the master sergeant said.
The Marines who spoke with Fox News said they were on the receiving end of a “blanket” denial of religious exemptions, with their applications being rejected without consideration. Eight separate letters of denial provided to Fox News were nearly identical, citing “military readiness” as the primary reason for rejection.
“I saw one package from a sergeant who had attached, like, 30 pages of material to substantiate why his belief was sincere, under no lawful obligation to do so,” the master sergeant said. “And then to have this as a response with no individual inquiry and just a generalized assertion of governmental interest is insulting.”
“On the religious side, this is absolutely a travesty what’s happening,” one chief warrant officer said. “People are getting blanket denials, they’re not addressing the individual concerns or beliefs of Marines who are submitting for religious accommodations, and I think that’s just horribly wrong. I honestly believe that they’re not really reading the packages.”
Another lieutenant colonel, who said she leads an 800-strong support group for service members who oppose the vaccine, said, “Everyone else pretty much has a voice except the military, because we are not authorized to speak out in opposition to our leadership.”
“I’ve talked to so many different service members,” she said. “Just recently, one of the corporals in the group was absolutely distraught because one of his friends who also declined the shot recently just killed himself.”
“This is an absolute travesty,” she continued, choking back tears. “And I’m telling you, I am so upset about this. My heart is breaking for these people.”
Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Ryan Bruce told Fox News that as of Thursday, 3,080 of the 3,192 requests for religious accommodation concerning the COVID-19 vaccine mandate had been processed and zero had been approved, adding that “no religious accommodations have been approved for any other vaccine in the past seven years.”
Not a single religious exemption has been approved out of thousands of requests?? Then what’s the point of even offering a religious exemption?!? It’s almost as if it’s being offered it so they can appear as though they care about religious freedom, perhaps for potential legal battles they may face. But in reality, it’s all kabuki theater and will result in the dismissal of thousands of Marines, willing and able to serve, all over a stupid vaccine that doesn’t even last for that long, apparently.
And this comes at a time when both China and Russia appear to be preparing for invasions of our allies, Taiwan and Ukraine. And who knows what else, because the world knows Biden is super weak. They all saw it with their own eyes as he ran from the Taliban in Afghanistan, leaving Americans behind in the process.
I’ve said this before, but I never thought I’d see a president worse than Obama. But here we are.