Resonant “Duty to Disobey,” a CHD Film, Launches in Theatres on Tuesday, June 30
Film Exposes the U.S. Government’s Mistreatment of Service Members Who Refused the Covid Vaccine
When you enlist in the military, you take this oath:
“I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), Article 92, service members must obey lawful orders. Failure to obey such orders can lead to serious punishment, including court-martial.
But there is a key qualifier: the order must be lawful. If an order is manifestly illegal, service members not only may refuse it — they have a duty to do so.
In Duty to Disobey, produced by Tommey Burrowes along with Children’s Defense Fund (CHD), we learn that many of our nation’s warriors upheld their oath when confronted by the military’s illegal Covid vaccination mandate.
And paid dearly for it.
Duty to Disobey will leave you shaken. It is a sobering reminder of the unhealed wounds of the government’s response to the Covid pandemic. A reminder that the government responded to an awful virus in an awful manner.
As you watch, remember: this was done to those who committed their lives to serving all of us. If they do this to our nation’s defenders, they will eventually do it to civilians.
In the film, we see a soldier, isolated in the brig for refusing to submit to the military’s Covid vaccination mandate, bum rushed by five guards who force him to the floor of the cell.
“Get on the floor! Get on the floor!”
While not every service member was thrown in the brig or placed in solitary confinement, many suffered equally cruel treatment ranging from dishonorable discharge, loss of pay, loss of health benefits, loss of promotions and duty restrictions.
The film also shows service members who complied with the vaccine mandate and were injured – with stroke, cancer, flu, nerve damage, high blood pressure and Guillain-Barré syndrome. What’s more, military members and medical personnel tell us that health data was manipulated and military administrators often dismissed health concerns.
Retired Airforce Colonel Tom Rempfer, author of Unyielding: Marathons Against Illegal Mandates, told me, “Duty to Disobey is a requisite watch for civic- minded Americans that demand their service members uphold their oaths of office and refused to comply with illegal mandates for unapproved medical products.”
Mary Holland, CHD’s CEO, noted that military members “Did not get the licensed vaccines that they were told they were getting. That was illegal and they stood up for their rights. They stood up for the Constitution. They had a duty under the military code to stand up.”
CHD CEO Mary Holland
Rempfer concurred. “The products violated U.S. law,” he said. “I am grateful to COVID-era vets and our new department of war leadership who learned from the illegal anthrax-era mandates.”
In January 2025, President Donald Trump directed the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to reinstate discharged service members with restored rank, back pay and benefits. In April, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum clarifying those procedures.
However, as of this writing, the Department of War has not fully awarded back pay and, for the most part, disciplinary records tied to vaccine refusal remain in effect. Only about 150 service members have been reinstated. More action is needed, including correcting discharge status, restoring retirement benefits, and reforming the religious accommodation process.
Duty to Disobey eloquently exposes how our government failed the men and women in the military – brave souls to whom we owe the utmost respect. The film calls for more than just an apology. It demands accountability.
