Under Secretary apologizes to service members removed under the Biden administration’s COVID vaccine mandate
The Department of the Navy issued an apology letter Friday to former military personnel “unjustly removed” from service because of the COVID vaccine mandate during the Biden administration.
Under Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao emphasized that the Department of War is committed to “righting past wrongs” and welcoming back former service members who were dismissed during the pandemic.
“To the sailors and marines who were wrongfully discharged during COVID, we failed you,” Hung said in a video posted on X. “We will never allow this to happen again, not on my watch. We are ready for you to come back, and we want to correct your records.”
Cao, the Department of the Navy’s chief operating and chief management officer, overseeing roughly one million Navy, Marine Corps and civilian personnel, acknowledged the impact of the mandate on those it forced out.