US Navy Captain who pleaded for ‘life-saving’ help for coronavirus-infected sailors gets ‘fired’

THE Captain of the US Navy ship USS Theodore Roosevelt who pleaded for life-saving help for his coronavirus-infected sailors was fired yesterday. 

Last Sunday, Navy Captain Brett Crozier wrote a letter to his bosses pleading for ‘life-saving’ help for sailors infected with Covid-19. In the letter sent to the leaders of the US Navy, Crozier urged immediate evacuation as number of crew with the coronavirus infection on the carrier (carrying some 4,000+ sailors) was rising. In the letter, 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.”

The contents of the letter were leaked to the press, which did not go down well with Crozier’s bosses, and he was dismissed yesterday. In a press briefing, Acting Secretary of the US Navy, Thomas Modly, confirmed Crozier’s dismissal. Although he did not accuse Crozier of actually leaking the letter, he did blame him for not being careful about who received his note, and for creating unnecessary worry on the ship, as well as for the crew’s families.

“It was copied to 20 or 30 other people. That’s just not acceptable. He did not take care and what that did is it created a little bit of a panic on the ship,” explained Modly. He added that the Navy had been “speeding up help to the Roosevelt before Crozier sent his letter.”  Modly also confirmed that 114 sailors tested positive for the virus and that he expects “hundreds more” to be infected.