Exclusive — Sen. Roger Marshall: Dishonorable Discharge Treats Veterans as Felons

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) highlighted the consequences of a dishonorable discharge, a possible outcome for military personnel refusing to comply with vaccine mandates imposed by the Biden administration across the U.S. armed forces, on Thursday’s edition of SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily with special guest host Jerome Hudson.

Marshall remarked, “The White House wants to give servicemembers a dishonorable discharge if they’re separated because of refusing the vaccine. [Americans must] understand the significance of a dishonorable discharge. Those folks will be treated as felons. They’ll never be able to get a job, again. They lose their Second Amendment. In some states, they won’t be able to vote, again. They lose their VA benefits, access to the VA hospitals, retirement plans.”

“Getting a dishonorable discharge may be the worst checkmark you can get in your life,” he added, “and you talk about the Scarlet Letter, that’s what it ends up being. I’ve been told 10 [to] 20 percent of our servicemen are still not vaccinated.”

Marshall emphasized the White House’s refusal to acknowledge natural immunity among those who recovered from the coronavirus in its campaign for universal vaccination.

He stated, “This is a policy out of a White House that says, ‘One size has to fit all. There’s no exception.’ It just doesn’t make sense. We’ve never asked people — military folks, especially — to get a vaccine for something they’re already immune to and something that doesn’t affect them, for the most part.”

“I encourage people to get their vaccines, but it’s an individual choice and certainly it’s not right for everybody,” Marshall added.

Marshall joined Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), James Lankford (R-OK), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) in legislation that would prohibit the Department of Defense for issuing a dishonorable discharge to military personnel refusing COVID-19 vaccines.

He said in September, “As a physician and veteran who is confident that the vaccine has saved countless lives, I believe vaccinating our servicemembers against COVID-19 is an important effort; however, whether or not to receive the vaccine should be a personal choice between an individual and their doctor,” Marshall said.

“Servicemembers who refuse to get vaccinated, and are subsequently separated from the service, should not receive anything other than an honorable discharge. There is no question about it: American heroes should not be treated as felons because of their personal medical choices.”

The Olean Times Herald reported, “Being dishonorably discharged has implications for service members, including stripping their rights to own a firearm and use the GI Bill for education. A dishonorable discharge also prevents them from federal health and housing benefits normally available to veterans.”

Hudson remarked, “It hits home from me, because I was raised by a veteran of the United States Army. To this day, those benefits have helped save his life. To me, it’s absolutely despicable and disgraceful.”