Meet Lt. Col. Michael Berry: Father Of Four, 18 Years Of Service, And A Victim Of Biden’s Vaccine Tyranny

The Covid-19 vaccine requirement for military service members is hopefully nearing its end after the House of Representatives bipartisanly passed the National Defense Authorization Act with a provision to repeal the mandate last Thursday.

The news is a win for a handful of congressional Republicans who have been diligently fighting the military mandate. For many service members, though, it marks a weary and hopeful end to over a year of battling unelected bureaucrats for their right to bodily autonomy. Noncompliant military members have suffered with lost retirement, benefits, and health insurance. Others have reportedly been vaccine injured or discharged.

Until the mandate is officially axed, which won’t be for another 30 days after it’s voted on in the Senate and signed by President Joe Biden, many unvaccinated servicemen continue to be disrespected, harassed, and punished by military bureaucrats.

Enter Lt. Col. Michael Berry, a father of four with 18 years of military service and one of the countless victims of Biden’s vaccine tyranny. Berry was inspired to join the United States Marine Corps nearly two decades ago because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He deployed to Afghanistan in 2008, and from 2009-2012 he served as an adjunct professor of law at the United States Naval Academy. Before this year, Berry served in the Marine Corps Reserve as a senior appellate litigation attorney.

When the Marine Corps issued its Covid-19 vaccine mandate in 2021, Berry applied for a religious exemption with the written support of his immediate commander. Berry explained to The Federalist that “because of the nature of appellate practice in the Marine Corps, reservist appellate counsel are authorized to work remotely, a policy that long predates Covid.” In fact, Berry has had “no physical contact with any member of [his] unit since 2019.”

Despite the uniquely remote nature of Berry’s job, he was still denied his exemption in February of this year. Berry promptly appealed the decision but has so far received no updates. His exemption status remains “pending.”

In July, several months after he made his appeal, Berry was hand-picked to teach a class for the Marine Corps lawyers at Naval Justice School as part of his reserve duties. Three days before his flight, however, Berry received a notification that his travel orders had been “modified.” After contacting the personnel support department, he was informed he had been transferred to “inactive status.” According to Berry, he was given “no warning or notice that this would happen.”

Punished for Refusing the Jab

Inactive status triggered several serious consequences for Berry and his family. First, since he was immediately removed from his unit, Berry involuntarily severed the attorney-client relationships he had formed without any opportunity to find replacement counsel. “If you know anything about law and ethics and professional responsibility, you can’t do that,” said Berry. “You have to have the consent of the client to terminate the attorney-client relationship.” Second, Berry can’t perform his job as a reservist, which means he isn’t able to earn credit

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