A U.S. Army lieutenant colonel garnered viral attention last week after he submitted his resignation paperwork, citing the military’s vaccine mandate and what he called the “Marxist takeover of the military.”
Lt. Col. Paul Douglas Hague, stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, submitted his resignation on August 30, according to his letter shared online last week by his wife, Katie Phipps Hague. “After eighteen years of active duty service in the US Army, my lieutenant colonel husband has resigned. He’s walking away from all he’s worked for and believed in since he was an ROTC kid at UGA. He’s walking away from his retirement. His resignation memo:”
“First, and foremost, I am incapable of subjecting myself to the unlawful, unethical, immoral and tyrannical order to sit still and allow a serum to be injected into my flesh against my will and better judgment,” Hague wrote in his resignation letter as part of his reasoning for resigning. “It is impossible for this so-called ‘vaccine’ to have been studied adequately to determine the long-term effects.”
Following FDA approval for the Pfizer vaccine, the Pentagon announced vaccine mandates for the entire military. Each branch has announced its own deadline for the mandatory vaccine, though Army was the last to announce one on Tuesday.
Hague’s resignation letter goes on to describe “a complete lack of confidence in the presidential administration and secretaries directing the military” and “what I view as an ideologically Marxist takeover of the military and the United States government at their upper echelons.”
Hague’s allegation of a Marxist takeover in the military comes after months of complaints about the introduction of racially charged reading materials and trainings throughout the military. In March, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) raised concerns the military is “being systematically undermined for the sake of leftwing ideology.”
On Tuesday, Hague confirmed his resignation to Fox News. He told said his resignation process has begun and that he continues to stand by what he said in his resignation letter.
Task & Purpose reported on Monday that the Army would not comment on the authenticity of the resignation letter. The Army also didn’t respond to a Fox News request for comment.
Phipps Hague responded to skepticism about her husband’s resignation letter on social media.
Responding to one Twitter user who questioned her husband’s opposition to the COVID vaccine mandate, Phipps Hague tweeted, “He didn’t resign over a vaccine. He said he felt the vaccine was being used as a political tool to divide and segregate Americans. He then went on to list many other reasons for his resignation—none of which have anything to do with vaccines.”
“I would like nothing more than to continue in the Army to reach my 20 years of active federal service and retire with my pension,” Hague’s letter adds. “However, I instead will join those who have served before me in pledging my Life, my Fortune, and my Sacred Honor to continue resisting the eternal and ever-mutable forms of oppression and tyranny – both from enemies outside our nation‘s borders, and those within.”
Phipps Hague told Fox News her husband’s resignation has been “sent up his chain of command” and, so far, appears to be “going smoothly.”
