Imagine sacrificing the comforts of a normal life to serve an institution you believed was worth joining. And then imagine that very same institution — the one you’ve poured your blood, sweat, and tears into for years — turns on you and brands you the enemy.
For the more than 8,000 U.S. service members booted from the military for declining to comply with the Biden administration’s Covid shot mandate, they don’t have to imagine it. They lived it.
In a new documentary, Duty to Disobey, several of these courageous voices have come forward to tell their stories of what it was like to fight the mandate that Trump War Secretary Pete Hegseth has since recognized was “unlawful.” Filled with accounts of heartbreak, anguish, and betrayal, the film illustrates the significance of standing up for what is right — even if doing so costs you everything.
Much of what makes Duty to Disobey so compelling is the decision to have the service members relay their own stories in the best way they know how. It’s one thing to read about a soldier’s or sailor’s experience throughout the entire Covid saga or to hear it reported out by some news broadcaster. Getting to witness the service members tell it themselves, however, adds a whole new element that permits the viewer to connect with these people on an emotional level and invest in their journeys throughout the film.
Neither the filmmakers nor the service members shy away from any so-called “controversial” topic, either. This includes in-depth analyses of the mandate’s unlawfulness, as well as the risks associated with getting the vaccines. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. — who is also featured in the documentary for his work investigating the shots’ development and approval — has released various committee reports indicating that the Biden administration downplayed and ignored safety warnings about the jabs’ potential side effects leading up to their release.
One of the most devastating cases is that of former Army Staff Sergeant Drew Outstanding, who detailed the myriad health problems (among them, severe neurological issues) he experienced after getting the second dose of the Covid shot. Once known for his big, charismatic smile, Outstanding can no longer fully make the facial expression — not even for his young son.
The maddening consequences, the pain, the trauma — it’s all very real. And the documentary lays it all bare with no filters whatsoever.
By far, the biggest takeaway from the film and its interviewed service members is that there must be accountability for what was done to them and the millions of troops across the force. While they praised the Trump administration’s actions to right the wrongs of the past thus far, they pressed them to pursue the much-needed cleaning of the recalcitrant bureaucracy that was willing to sideline the constitutional freedoms of the troops.
Duty to Disobey is a stark reminder of the Biden presidency’s and military swamp’s egregious treatment of those who honorably served their country. But it should also serve as a rallying cry for Trump administration officials and lawmakers alike to do whatever it takes to ensure real accountability and that such cruelty never happens again.
Duty to Disobey will run in select theaters across America on June 30. A list of locations running the film can be found on its website.
