A lot of our nation's military members take advantage of enlistment's educational benefits. I did so myself; the New GI Bill paid, in part, for my college education. It's a powerful draw, but under the Biden administration, a lot of our nation's veterans were stripped of those benefits due to their refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a long-awaited move, the Veterans Administration (VA) under the Trump administration is restoring those rights to veterans who were unfairly discharged.
A major policy shift could restore education benefits to thousands of veterans who were separated from military service for refusing the COVID vaccine during the Biden administration, according to The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
The move follows President Donald Trump’s January executive order — Executive Order 14184 – Reinstating Service Members Discharged Under the Military’s COVID Vaccination Mandate.
This directed federal agencies to identify service members affected by the former vaccine requirement and to take steps to reinstate or restore certain benefits.
In response, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth went on to instruct military departments to facilitate discharge upgrades for those who were involuntarily separated because they declined the COVID vaccine and received a characterization of service that affected their benefits.
We should note that some vaccines and other medical treatments are required for deployment to some areas; malaria prophylaxis, for example. In preparation for our deployment to the Middle East in 1990, my medical company received what we were told was an experimental anthrax vaccine, and it did seem to have some dizzying effects, although in my own case, I can safely say there were no long-term effects I'm aware of.
In this case, however, the Biden administration engaged in discharges that were purely punitive. The sensible approach would be to have retained this personnel in stateside posts; instead, they were kicked out, with discharges that negated their earned educational benefits.
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Now, that wrong is being righted.
According to the VA, more than 8,000 service members were separated after Biden's Department of Defense implemented the vaccination mandate.
Over half reportedly received discharges classified as less than fully honorable, a status that can limit eligibility for education benefits under the GI Bill.
After conducting initial reviews, the Department of War found that 899 veterans from this group now meet eligibility requirements for GI Bill benefits as a result of their upgraded discharge status.
Officials said the number could grow as more cases are reviewed under the guidelines set by Trump's executive order.
Veterans affected by this are, reportedly, now being notified by the VA of the restoration of their benefits.
These veterans are not, we should point out, service members who refused an order in the face of the enemy. They refused an experimental vaccine, and the Biden administration summarily discharged them for it. Now some of those service members are being reinstated, and others are having benefits restored. That's all to the good. We owe it to our veterans to deal with them honestly and fairly.
The effects of the COVID-19 panic will be years in sorting out. There was a massive overreaction in many quarters. Now, at least, this one injustice is being fixed.
Editor's Note: Thanks to President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America's military.
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