Lieutenant Colonel Paul Douglas Hague of the United States Army has had all of his vaccinations up to, and including, 8 inoculations against anthrax—but he refuses to get the COVID vaccine. His reason? "Freedom."
Lt. Col. Hague told Fox News' Sean Hannity he would rather retire after 18 years of Army service than get just one more vaccine mandated by the Pentagon.
He told Hannity he tendered his resignation from the Army last week, though the resignation letter shared by his wife is dated August 23, 2021 and was digitally signed on August 30.
After eighteen years of active duty service in the US Army, my lieutenant colonel husband has resigned\n\nHe\u2019s walking away from all he\u2019s worked for and believed in since he was an ROTC kid at UGA\n\nHe\u2019s walking away from his retirement\n\nHis resignation memo:pic.twitter.com/u1QU488fmI— Katie Phipps Hague (@Katie Phipps Hague) 1631228756
Despite literal billions of people having received at least one dose of the vaccine (nearly 3.5 billion as of this writing), largely without incident, Hague apparently values his freedom above protecting himself and his those around him from a deadly pandemic.
He told Hannity:
"I don't want the COVID vaccine and I don't plan on getting it. But I've had all of the other Army vaccines. I've had eight anthrax shots. I've had the smallpox vaccination. I've had them all."
"So it's really not about whether or not I'll get the shot. This is really about the freedom of the American people."
"The right to choose your own medical procedures."
"The right to decide what's gonna be injected into your body and what's not."
Army officer who says he's resigning rather than get the covid vaccine admits to Hannity he's taken all the other Army vaccines, such as smallpox and anthrax, but is refusing the covid vax because "this is really about the freedom of the American people."pic.twitter.com/CkK9c3UjIz— Justin Baragona (@Justin Baragona) 1632362542
While Hannity may have thought Hague "principled," many on Twitter vehemently disagreed.
Bye..when a soldier doesn't have your six over a political issue you sure dont want him in the fox hole with you. I would be concerned about his oath as well. Dishonorable discharge and move on.— Jan202021 (@Jan202021) 1632365020
Thank god this guy will no longer be in the US Army.— PCR RitesGood (@PCR RitesGood) 1632364121
In the piece, says he has 2 more yrs until retirement, that puts him at about 40 yrs old, and he\u2019d probably be eligible for a $50K+ per year pension. Assuming typical life expectancy, he\u2019s walking away from $2.2M+. That doesn\u2019t pass the smell test.— Pontificate Negro (@Pontificate Negro) 1632369450
If he's not on board with common sense about fighting the pandemic how can we trust him with fighting for America. He's helping to sow seeds of doubt that will cost people's lives— Doug Moore (@Doug Moore) 1632409692
I live in a military town where every other neighbor is in the military and NONE refused the vaccine when the order from their commander in chief and the CDC came down! Actually, most all we\u2019re already vaccinated for their families! You sir, need to find another line of work.— Emmyjo (@Emmyjo) 1632383299
If he\u2019s doing this to \u201cprotect Americans\u201d, does he not realize that a majority of Americans want him to be vaccinated?— Joe-Z (@Joe-Z) 1632363092
The virus has now killed over 4.7 million people worldwide—over 684,000 of them in the United States—and is continuing to spread.
Vaccination, along with other prevention measures like masking and hand washing, are the best way to protect yourself and your community.
Information on where and how to get vaccinated in your area in the United States can be found here: https://www.vaccines.gov/
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