veronicablood
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P.S. - not one single soldier would have died because of antivaxx bullshtt if Kamala Harris was president.
RUB! RUB! RUB!
Jun 20, 2026 4:22 PM
veronicablood
9223
722
10
P.S. - not one single soldier would have died because of antivaxx bullshtt if Kamala Harris was president.
RUB! RUB! RUB!
huffnpuff72
I was young and fit (well fairly so) and decided I didn't need the flu shot for a few years. Then I got it. It knocked me down for a month and ended up with pneumonia took ages to get back to fit again. I learned the hard way and have had flu shot every year since.
BlurbDurb
I thought the flu wasn’t dangerous and only fat and unhealthy people died from it MAGA? That was your excuse to murder your family members through neglect during Covid, right?
ptrimg
This was basic training. Imagine if that number of people were incapacitated in a deployed unit.
Gryphonosiris
When I was at Lackland in '99 refusing a vaccine was a one way ticket back to being a civilian.
allcattywampus
Look, stupid people having to learn the same lessons everyone else learned a hundred years ago all by themselves 'cause they never opened a fucking book
Che07
When stupidity rules.
Resistance1000
One of the biggest incubators and spreaders of Spanish Flu was American military bases.
Bizarkly
Correct. We know that it started in Kansas and then was spread to Europe by troops deployed there for World War One.
engtennchs
What an ABSOLUTE SHIT SHOW.
IBroughtASpareDrainpipe
Everything trunt touches is made much worse or dies. Wrecked reflecting pool is latest example.
xstickman
They live in a world made better by smart people, but they assume "better" is the natural state. So then they assume all the smart people are wasting time, money, and effort on nonsense, and tell them to stop it. They are completely incapable of realising the sheer amount of collaborative effort that went into establishing the modern world. Possibly the greatest living demonstration of privilege.
Atlasraven
Lethality means being ready which means being healthy which means having your physical and medical needs met.
UnattendedDeviant
Measles, screw worm, flu outbreaks. Prevention using real science was cheaper and safer, Texas.
Maybe you can just pray these things away.
monkeyfly
His job was to weaken the US military. He's done that. What did you expect? He may be a total moron but his handlers aren't.
SilenceIsTheMotherOfTruth
He should be charged with manslaughter.
battery1979
George Washington recognized the importance of vaccines.
ShearingBlizzard
A stark reminder that the Flu can be deadly
JackingMeHoff
This is just the beginning when our countries leaders are Fascist anti-science anti-vax morons. Additional reported health outbreaks; measles, ongoing H5N1 bird flu, multiple Salmonella outbreaks. Screwworms can infect humans. Do we drink bleach or ingest white light to kill them?
imeatingpizzaandfuckit
The reason military training has this weird cleanliness fetish isn’t just about appearances. Historically, the single biggest killer of personnel in wartime has been disease. You clean up because if you don’t, people get the screaming shits and die. Because rats hang out in clutter. Etc etc. VACCINES ARE THE SAME FUCKING IDEA. When you put a bunch of people in close proximity disease spreads. Leave it to Hegseth and Trump….
SecretAgentSuperBooger
Great. An old friend's child was just sent there a couple weeks ago.
DVSBSTrD
Were they vaccinated?
SecretAgentSuperBooger
Knowing the parents, I would imagine so.
SlayerOfGoat
Yeah, but if Kamala Harris was president, Trump said she would get us in a war with Iran.... Wait, what did Trump do?
DVSBSTrD
So? Y'all believed him when he said the same about Hillary and Russia.
SlayerOfGoat
No, we didn't. That was the "uneducated" that he professes to love so much that believed that.
bildschoen
And gas prices would go up past $5!
StealThisRepost
I went through basic at Lackland and I can attest its gross enough and people get sick enough without this nonsense. All those bodies packed that tight in nasty bastard mode where showers are not guaranteed. What stupidity.
bourbonandbaddecisions
Gen Gorge Washington knew the dangers of wide spread disease. That’s why his ordered the mandatory inoculation of troops to fight against small pox.
cabalin
Vaccinating his troops was a large reason General Washington won the Revolutionary War. Lucky for Little Petey, losing is his thing.
Isiel89
What??? The vaccine line has been a military tradition for as long as possible. Just take your needle and shut up. No questions.
ScottPaul57
Is a Polio epidemic next? Or Smallpox?? We could always bring back Bubonic Plague if we really tried.....
DVSBSTrD
So we're invading New Guinea?
veronicablood
measles is already in the US
RetrogradeLlama
Don’t joke: I’m sure it’s coming soon.
ScottPaul57
Sarcasm is no joke.....
junkgoof
It’s not politics, the crooks are choosing their voters. They want guys dumb enough to wear red hats to support them while they burn what they can’t steal.
DVSBSTrD
That IS politics!
junkgoof
Not in functional countries. The US is rapidly going first to last because of the clueless third of their population.
DVSBSTrD
That's what happens when you elect crooks. And if you were paying attention, you'd know crooks exist in all the "functioning" democracies as well. They just aren't the ones in charge.
Gerokeymaster
So many people don't realize how horrifically debilitating a full-on flu is, because they've never experienced it thanks to high vaccination rates. People vent minor cases (or get colds/sinus infections and think it's the flu), and assume it's "just a bug", and not a disease that will knock an otherwise completely healthy adult on their ass for a week, minimum.
southoffrance
I had real flu (not what I used to call flu) just once. After walking to the bathroom and back (10 steps each way at most) I was so tired I slept for 2 hours.
I asked a pharmacist friend if getting the flu was a good thing, to give the immune system a workout. He said "No! Every time you get flu it damages you and the damage is cumulative". So now I get the vaccine each winter.
Resistance1000
nowinsituation
only 40% opted in...so like the rest are total morons?
slack3rdav3
these are ppl who are joining RIGHT NOW, while at war for no reason. during this admin
dinosaurbutt
The general public has this deep distrust of the flu vaccine. How flu vaccine actually give ppl flu and how "i got the vaccine and i got the flu anyway". Im a nurse myself and even among my peers this sentiment is very prevalent. All I gotta say is ive gotten the flu when I wasn't vaccinated and ive gotten the flu when I was vaccinated and I can tell you the difference is night and day. I do admit I didnt feel really good the next day after I got my jab but its a small price to pay.
karashu2000
https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1aXdtZDBjdXd4MnhneTZyaW82OWhja2ljYjJ2ZHJ6a2t6cWZkd3Z0MCZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/44c11up6UfB80RmE2o/200w.webp
DVSBSTrD
Yep. Means the revolution has a chance.
NotAGarbageCant
Yuuuuuuuuuup!
powwerbottom
Not really, they're just used to having everything planned and ordered across the board. Not a shit-ton of things are really "optional" in the military
Affray
The American military kinda has a specific target audience for recruitment efforts. Desperate and/or fucking dumb.
JCstormz
morons are their prime candidate material after the desperate
PotooGeatAndWise
Kids. A lot of them are kids under 20.
ElbowDeepinaTinyOctopus
To be fair, members of the US military are subject to the bicillin shot (aka the "Peanut Butter" shot) and probably have minor PTSD towards anything that isn't morphine that comes in needle form.
mikeatike
They are all morons, but 60% are total.
ButtblasterMcAssmaster
Joining the US military is agreeing to murder brown people in the name of capitalism. Every US servicemember is a piece of shit.
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ButtblasterMcAssmaster
You can lie to yourself all you want and pretend there is a good reason to join the military of the second most aggressive nation on the planet. But everyone who does is still a piece of shit who is willing to murder civilians for education or healthcare, because their country is such a shithole they don't have that otherwise.
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ButtblasterMcAssmaster
Yeah I pity that 18 yr old shlub, but less so than the literal millions of civilians killed by the US military in the last decades. You're the bad guys.
Joining the US military for opportunities is like joining the SS for opportunities. Maybe you were desperate, but that's no excuse for the evil you have committed yourself to.
Fentex
It may be offensive to you, and debatable to others, but it's not stupid per se. The U.S military does a lot of imperial murdering of predominantly brown people and some people feel kind strongly about that.
J4nein4ne
As a servicemember, let me advise you that 3/4 of those were probably told by the senior enlisted personnel above them that "if anyone in this shop gets the flu and any of you didn't get the shot, I'll personally be leading the unvaccinated's PT until nobody I know has the flu any more. Do with that information what you will."
shitheadtookmyname
Long before Trump, long before the tea party, my rural Texas mom was always saying she didn't get the flu vaccine bc she always got the flu afterwards anyway
crazyspelling
And lemme guess, the first few times she told her doctor about it they said something fucking super stupid like "it's all in your head." I get a mini-flu every time I get jabbed, and that's what they tell me. Like fuck you, doc, I didn't develop a psychosomatic fever now did I?
shitheadtookmyname
Presumably the told her the objective truth, that is literally fucking impossible to get the flu from a flu vaccine
crazyspelling
Funny, because 30-35% of recipients report flu-like symptoms after getting the shot. I know it's not "the flu," but I'm goddam tired of people like you pretending we're making it up.
UserMCP
I'd bet the doctors/nurses/medics/whatevers were told to encourage the trainees to opt out.
newsguycraigevans
I'd bet peer pressure. A big enough group telling anyone who would listen that it wasn't alpha or something dumb like that.
Dubs1
Good fucking luck doing that. The head Medical officer have overriding authority over the CO when it comes to things medical related and those guys also dont tend to gaf if it means harming there sailors.
thatbloodybastard
Honestly, aside from the Swine Flu, I never got a flu vaccine. Not cause I don't trust it, just never saw a need. I can imagine a lot of them feel similarly. Though, I live a deeply isolated life (by choice) that makes sickness relatively rare. Being in the military means living in close quarters with a lot of other people. Might change my perspective.
DWolf
I started getting vaccines because I found out I could infect others. Before that, I figured the flu was just my body's way of telling me to slow down.
SirButcher
I said the same till I caught the flu. Getting the vaccine every year now.
Many people think the common cold is the flu. Nope, that is a VASTLY different beast.
RetrogradeLlama
Let’s be honest here: aside from officers, it isn’t the best in the brightest that typically enlist in the military these days. At least not the majority as these figures show.
Dubs1
They keep lowering the standards also. Like for the navy you use to need like the second highest adsva score to get in and that's just to be a undes sailor. Now you need like a 25 minimum.
Atlasraven
Unlike civilian life where you encounter the best and the brightest.
/s
spookyu
I can promise you, there's an equal number of idiot officers lol
LankyBootyGriswald
Something something, the lieutenant is lost.
Ivain
Yeah unfortunately, being a commissioned officer does not make you immune to idiocy. It may require some higher education in most cases, but that too is not in any way a guarantee for being immune to stupidity.
TheSecondPiewackit
There's also a case to be made that the officers have a higher representation of idiots.
spookyu
I was a medic. I once had to stop the Doc I worked with (a Major, having a M.D. with a Wilderness Medicine Fellowship, also my OIC) from "just getting a little closer" to a moose lol.
lozeldatkm
And you think military officers are fuckin Einsteins?
bonetonelord
Einstein himself moved to Switzerland to dodge the draft in Prussia. The best and brightest never join the military.
TheSecondPiewackit
Best and brightest sometimes don't have a choice, and the military is a really good entry level option.
ID1746
Sometimes they do enlist like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Schwarzschild who volunteered to join the Army in WW1. Man solved a part of Einstein's general relativity while serving in WW1. Did not survive the war.
lacrossejock10
We…we are not lol. As a major, officers are just as dumb and would advocate for not taking the vaccine in some cases as well. It’s all very sad :(. I took mine though!
PosthumousExile
The military is a blood thirsty machine that does nothing but terrorize countries that would have been socialist or communist if it weren't for the CIA