‘RELIEVED OF DUTY’

U.S. Navy Fires Captain of Virus-Stricken Ship Who Begged For Help

The captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt pleaded for the Navy’s help in a leaked letter, saying “sailors don’t need to die.”

The U.S. Navy has fired the captain of an aircraft carrier with more than 100 sailors infected with the novel coronavirus after he pleaded for help in a leaked letter, saying “sailors don’t need to die,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Captain Brett Crozier, who commands the USS Theodore Roosevelt, wrote the scathing letter to the Navy on Tuesday, stating “this will require a political solution but it is the right thing to do.” He wrote: “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset—our sailors.” Soon after the letter was published by the Chronicle, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said the warship would be disinfected and 4,000 crew members would be allowed to disembark. However, Modly also announced Crozier’s “relief of duty” on Thursday night. Unnamed officials told Reuters that Crozier was being relieved not because he wrote the letter and sent it up through the chain of command but because the Navy believes he leaked it to the media.