Army Reserve Major and former Maine National Guardsman Michael Gary lost his position in the Guard and faced multiple investigations in what he believes was retaliation for his refusal to take the COVID vaccine when it was mandated for the military in August 2021.
Gary, a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) expert with 27 years of military experience, faced investigations, accusations of political extremism, and economic hardship after he conscientiously refused to take the experimental mRNA treatment.
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“When I submitted my Religious Accommodation Request in December 2020 (maybe first in the nation to do so) to exempt me from the COVID-19 shot mandate, I did so with full faith in the Constitution I swore to defend. Instead, I was met with retaliation, fabricated accusations, and character attacks. Leadership didn’t stop at questioning my decisions; they sought to discredit my integrity,” said Gary in a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, provided to The Maine Wire.
Gary, a CBNR expert heavily involved in the Guard’s COVID response, objected to the experimental vaccines, believing them to be harmful and objecting to the use of aborted fetal tissue in their production.
He told The Maine Wire that he submitted a preemptive religious exemption request in December 2020 in anticipation of a mandate.
The request, he said, was rejected in September 2021, one month after the vaccine mandate was imposed and just one month before the start of the investigation against him.
Gary told The Maine Wire that he believes his superior officers tried to make an example of him for refusing the vaccine because, he said, he was the highest-ranking member of the Maine national guard to do so.
“I’m well-known, well-respected, and soldiers came to me for an example of the religious exemption packet. Then they (the command hierarchy) came after me once my first packet was rejected at the end of September 2021. Within less than a month, I was under investigation,” he said.
The investigation sought to label Gary a “domestic extremist” because of a sticker on his mug, particularly Roman numeral three above “1776.”
According to Gary, investigators believed the sticker was a symbol of the Three Percenters, a now-disbanded right-wing group named after the claim that, during the American Revolution, only three percent of colonists actively fought against British rule.
“They made an example of me, and so they opened up an investigation. This is going to be funny, but for a 1776 sticker with a Roman numeral three above it on my coffee mug,” said Gary.
He told The Maine Wire that the investigation into his coffee mug was quickly dropped because he had no social media, and the investigators could not link him to any extremist statements or groups.
Nevertheless, Gary said, the investigation continued, with investigators trying to dredge up various accusations of misconduct or wrongdoing.
“They just start throwing stuff at the wall to see what will stick,” said Gary.
One such accusation, he said, falsely claimed that he had illegally ordered his subordinates to vote for President Donald Trump.
Due to the investigation, Gary lost his Active Guard Reserve (AGR) position, a post that allows an officer to serve full-time with full pay and benefits without the need for active deployments, and allows them to serve closer to home.
He told The Maine Wire that he also came under a security clearance investigation, which could have caused him to lose his job entirely.
In response, he decided to transfer into the Reserve to avoid further investigations that he believes unjustly targeted him.
A retired U.S. Army Colonel, Jeff Squires, posted on Facebook the official reprimand that led to the loss of Gary’s AGR position.
The reprimand accused Gary of undermining his commanding officers by publicly speaking out against the vaccine messaging promoted by his superiors and failing to carry out lawful orders.
“If officers were allowed to override command directives with personal viewpoints, chaos would soon ensue throughout the ranks. We cannot allow that kind of conduct to continue, and your Soldiers deserve better,” said the reprimand from Brigadier General Dean Preston.

Gary has maintained that he is innocent of the accusations brought against him, and provided The Maine Wire with a copy of his legal defense statements.
“MAJ Gary never undermined the command. He shared information when the
vaccines were optional and he largely stopped speaking openly about vaccines once
the mandate was imposed,” said Gary’s attorney.
“It was never MAJ Gary’s intent to undermine the command intent in spirit or otherwise,” he added.
Gary’s attorney argued that he was being persecuted for his views rather than any actual wrongdoing.
“This entire matter is disheartening because it appears targeted at MAJ Gary based on the content of his views,” his counsel said.
He maintains that it was illegal for the Biden administration’s Department of Defense (DoD) to order service members to take the vaccine.
Gary pointed to a court ruling issued last week determining that, in the case of multiple Coast Guardsmen, the military could not legally force them to take a then experimental vaccine.
While speaking to The Maine Wire, Gary detailed some of the economic hardships the loss of his position has caused for his family, including difficulties in buying new clothes for his children and an inability to take them on any family vacations.
After took a part-time position as a “weekend soldier” with the Reserves to avoid further investigations, he said that he struggled to find employment due in part to his refusal to take the COVID vaccine.
He eventually found work with the Truth for Health Foundation, an Arizona-based nonprofit dedicated to exposing the harms done to service members by the vaccine mandates.
Gary hopes that he and other Maine National Guardsmen facing similar hardships will have their positions reinstated with back pay following a Monday executive order from President Trump.
That order condemned the previous administration for imposing a vaccine mandate and promised to redress the wrongs done to servicemen who refused to take the vaccine.
“The vaccine mandate was an unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden on our service members. Further, the military unjustly discharged those who refused the vaccine, regardless of the years of service given to our Nation, after failing to grant many of them an exemption that they should have received. Federal Government redress of any wrongful dismissals is overdue,” said Trump.
The order makes reinstatement available for anyone discharged solely for refusing the vaccine, and they will be restored to their previous rank with full back pay and benefits.
Although Gary was not officially discharged, and his reprimand was not ostensibly applied solely because of his refusal to accept the vaccine, he believes that he is eligible for redress under the order.
He believes that the higher-ups at the Maine National Guard will resist reinstating him, despite Trump’s order.
Last week, he mailed a letter to Hegseth, explaining his plight and calling on the Defense Secretary to reinstate him to his position.
Gary is currently awaiting a response.
Read Gary’s full letter to Hegseth here:
The DEMOCRATIC party’s deep state has gone deeper than I though.
I am sure Pete will get to you. But the DEMOCRATE politician’s have F up this county so much I hope it can get Stright in out.
,