Thank You, Captain Crozier
Two days ago I wrote about Captain Brett Crozier, who as commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt urged his Navy superiors to let him take his ship into port, because the coronavirus was spreading rapidly among his 4000-plus crew members.
Two updates since that report: First, there is now additional video footage from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, of how crew members cheered Captain Crozier when he left the ship after being “relieved of command.”
Second, I should have pointed out that Thomas Modly, the acting secretary of the Navy who dismissed Crozier, was in that role because his predecessor, Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer, was forced out of that job when he resisted Donald Trump’s efforts on behalf of Edward Gallagher, the former Navy SEAL who was prosecuted for war crimes in a court martial. (The Trump administration is replete with “acting” officials, who can exercise some of the powers of their offices without going through Senate hearings or confirmation.)
Now, relevant reader response. First, from a reader with a family member aboard the Theodore Roosevelt:
https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2020/04/thank-you-captain-crozier/609484/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+(The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed)
https://www.sfchronicle.com/nation/article/Capt-Crozier-The-man-who-risked-his-career-to-15179363.php
