By Liberty Counsel ——Bio and Archives--January 6, 2024
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ORLANDO, FL. – More than 230 active service members and veterans from all branches of the military have signed an open letter to the American people pledging to hold military leaders accountable for the illegal conduct and harms caused by the Department of Defense’s (DOD) now rescinded COVID-19 shot mandate.
The open letter, known as the “Declaration of Military Accountability,” was published on January 1, 2024. The declaration notifies Americans that “military leaders broke the law, trampled constitutional rights, suppressed the free exercise of religion, denied informed consent, permitted unwilling medical experimentation, and suppressed the free exercise of religion” when implementing COVID shot policies.
Under its COVID shot mandate, the DOD uniformly denied most of the 36,500 religious accommodation requests it received from troops to abstain from the experimental shot and involuntarily discharged more than 8,300 service members for refusing to take it. Thousands of service members involved with Liberty Counsel’s litigation on behalf of the military have been forced to resign, prematurely retire, or have lost promotions and career opportunities. The letter confirms this shot mandate has led to many “vaccine” injuries, an increase in veteran homelessness, and even deaths leaving service members and their families suffering “financially, emotionally, and physically.”
The letter’s signatories admonish the military’s most senior leaders for enabling “lawlessness” and “unwilling experimentation” during the 16-month mandate, specifically naming former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff retired General Mark A. Milley, as well as former and current joint chiefs, service academy commandants, inspectors general, and surgeons general.
The letter stated, “These leaders refused to resign or take any other action to hold themselves accountable, nor have they attempted to repair the harm their policies and actions have caused. Since there has yet to be any accountability, the undersigned give our word to do everything morally permissible and legally possible to hold our own leadership accountable. We intend to rebuild trust by demonstrating that leaders cannot cast aside constitutional rights or the law for political expediency.”
The signatories noted they have “exhausted all internal efforts to rectify recent criminal activity within the armed forces,” and that the leaders responsible are “continuing to ignore [their] communications.” All the signatories pledged “to do everything morally permissible and legally possible” to “pursue restoration” within the Armed Forces through accountability.
As a result of this “lawlessness,” many signatories plan to seek political office to gain the legal authority to hold military leaders accountable. Currently, out of the 231 signers, there are least six veterans running for the U.S. Congress.
The signatories stated, “In the coming years, thousands within our network will run for Congress and seek appointments to executive branch offices, while those of us still serving on active duty will continue to put fulfilling our oaths ahead of striving for rank or position. For those who achieve the lawful authority to do so, we pledge to recall from retirement the military leaders who broke the law and will convene courts-martial for the crimes they committed.” The letter also noted any sponsored legislation would include removing all retirement income for “criminally complicit” leaders
The letter concluded, “Our nation was once great because it was good. It was built on moral principles founded in natural law and yet, the recent acceleration of moral relativism has us headed towards a precipitous implosion. While all good things come to an end, we refuse to allow our nation to go quietly into the depths of decadence and decay. We promise to exhaust all moral, ethical, and legal means to restore the rule of law and will begin by attempting to hold senior military leaders accountable.”
While the letter suggests this endeavor “will be a continuous process with a long-term time horizon,” several signatories told Liberty Counsel that the letter’s purpose was both a “promise to each other” and to Americans that they will continue to support and defend the Constitution.
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For former Army Lt. Col. Brad Miller, who previously served as a battalion commander in the 101st Airborne Division, signing the letter was a pledge for service members to stick together and fulfill oaths that never expire. Miller resigned his commission after 19 years of service and gave up retirement benefits to avoid unlawfully enforcing the mandate upon the soldiers under his charge.
Miller stated, “If our military falls, our country falls. We would be derelict in our sworn duty to defend the Constitution and negligent in our loyalty to our fellow Americans to allow military leaders to continue harming its members and destroy the military from the inside. The damage these leaders have caused extends to the nation and it is our duty to lawfully resist and restore the military.”
Lt. Col. Carolyn Rocco, a signatory, and an active-duty Air Force officer, told Liberty Counsel the “Declaration of Military Accountability” is a written promise to the American people pledging to rebuild trust and restore the rule of law within the Armed Forces.
“This declaration reveals 231 veterans, who are standing in the gap, upholding their oath to support and defend the Constitution. The atrocities service members suffered, during and after the COVID mandate, was unlike anything experienced in American military history. Violating First Amendment rights, approximately 10,000 religious accommodations in the Air Force alone were denied. Additionally, many medical exemptions were denied, even for those who had post-infection antibodies. These denials along with discriminatory treatment created mass moral injury – wounds that, for many, have not healed.”
“We have exhausted all efforts to inform senior leaders of these issues, with no reprieve. Therefore, we now submit to you, the American people, a declaration to bring back morals, integrity, and justice to the military. Stand in the gap with us.”
Americans can take a stand to defend service members and support the “Declaration of Military Accountability” by signing the “American Petition by We The People,” a web-based petition, which states in part:
“This petition intends to kindle the spark of liberty into massive flames. To that end, we hereby pledge our support for the Declaration of Military Accountability and intend to expand his pledge to include holding accountable all those in government authority what have abused their positions in unlawful and corrupt ways.”
The goal of the petition is to reach a million signatures from the American public showing there is widespread support for holding leaders accountable for violating constitutional rights. The petition was launched on January 2 and has already received more than 11,500 signatures.
Lt. Col. Rocco noted the petition gives Americans an opportunity to join this effort “to stave off a moral collapse.”
According to retired Lt. Col. Pete Chambers, an Army doctor, whistleblower, and one who has suffered a COVID shot injury, the effects from the mandate are also a matter of national security
Chambers said, “When you have so many soldiers involuntarily discharged from the military and with recruiting and retention at historic lows, it all relates directly to national defense. The national defense strategy requires the U.S. military to be able to fight a war on two fronts, and because of this mandate, we cannot do this. This declaration is made for a moment such as this.”
Chambers testified in Liberty Counsel’s Navy SEAL 1 v. Austin case arguing that the COVID shots are neither safe nor effective, are injuring and killing service members, and that the mandate was undermining military readiness.
He recently told Liberty Counsel that the mandate “put the onus on troop commanders” to ensure that service members were vaccinated. However, Chambers explained only “Emergency Use Authorization” (EUA) injections were available, which require informed consent.
Chambers stated, “It is illegal to force someone to take an EUA shot. By ensuring troops were vaccinated under this order, commanders have followed an unlawful order. There needs to be a full stop of any vaccines involving mRNA to allow investigations to take place.”
“We are expecting the people – ‘We the people’ – to put pressure on Congress in order that they would stand up legally, morally, and ethically and do their job wholeheartedly. Accountability comes through investigation. If these alleged crimes were investigated properly, we may be talking about potential crimes against humanity,” stated Chambers.
Liberty Counsel litigated against the Pentagon’s COVID-19 shot mandate in Navy SEAL 1 v. Austin and Colonel Financial Management Officer, et al. v. Austin, and obtained multiple restraining orders and injunctions, including a class-wide injunction, which contributed to the Pentagon abandoning its mandate. In October 2023, the Pentagon signed a $1.8 million settlement with Liberty Counsel covering the attorney’s fees and costs during the two years of litigation on behalf of many affected service members.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “It was unlawful to force service members to get this experimental shot and then equally unconstitutional to force them to choose between their religious convictions and their careers. The Pentagon’s unlawful COVID shot mandate has inflicted irreparable harm on many service members and the military itself. Our Armed Forces have a sacred trust to defend our nation, but that trust has been eroded by the Pentagon’s wanton disregard for the constitutional rights of its members. The signatories of the ‘Declaration of Military Accountability’ are demanding a strict adherence to the law and Americans should unite behind them to hold these military leaders accountable.”
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