Navy Under Secretary Hung Cao says personnel discharged over vaccine mandate were 'failed'

"To the sailors and marines who were wrongfully discharged during COVID, we failed you," Hung said in a video posted on X. "We will never allow this to happen again, not on my watch. We are ready for you to come back, and we want to correct your records."

Cao, the Department of the Navy's chief operating and chief management officer, overseeing roughly one million Navy, Marine Corps and civilian personnel, acknowledged the impact of the mandate on those it forced out.

"We are righting this wrong and it starts with this formal letter of apology," he said.

The order applies to former members of the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Space Force and Coast Guard who were discharged solely for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.

The former secretary of defense mandated in 2021 that all service members receive the COVID-19 vaccine, a policy that was rescinded in 2023.

"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," Trump's executive order states.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 8,000 service members were separated after the Biden administration's Department of Defense issued the vaccination mandate.

Hegseth said he directed a proactive review of personnel records to identify individuals involuntarily discharged solely for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine and facilitate appropriate discharge upgrades.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Navy for additional information.