Written by by TYLER DURDEN at zerohedge.com
Over 70% of individuals serving in the US military who responded to an Epoch Times survey said they felt “coerced” into taking the COVID-19 vaccine and/or booster after the Pentagon issued a 2021 mandate to do so.
The survey, conducted last fall, spanned all branches of the military and included both enlisted and officer ranks. The average length of service was around 16 years.
Out of the 229 participants, 169 were active duty service members. Eighty-seven percent, or 199, were unvaccinated against COVID-19. Of the 30 who were vaccinated, only two said they had wanted to do it.
Twenty out of 30 individuals who acknowledged taking a COVID-19 vaccine claim they were injured by it. Ninety-three percent of the participants said they know someone they believe has been injured by one. –Epoch Times
One 20-year Army combat veteran told the outlet that he opposed the mandate.
“I’m not a lab rat and neither are the people I work with,” he said, adding “While holding out [from taking the vaccines], I was forced to wear a mask and was often singled out for being unvaccinated.”
After bringing his concerns to his command, “I was simply told: ‘I don’t make the rules.’”
He added that if he hadn’t gotten vaccinated, he would have been prohibited from coming home to see his family at a time when his wife was at risk of a serious medical concern that might require his presence at a moment’s notice.
“You can see I had no choice but to take the shot,” he said. “At the same time I would be prevented from being with my wife, my orders to deploy were also being threatened.”