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By Cristina Stassis<\/strong><\/p>\n Thousands of veterans discharged from service during former President Joe Biden\u2019s administration for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine may regain eligibility for GI Bill education benefits, according to a Monday Department of Veterans Affairs announcement.<\/p>\n Over 8,000 service members across the military were separated from service during the Biden administration for not complying with the Defense Department\u2019s COVID mandate, which required all service members to be fully vaccinated against the virus.<\/p>\n Service members who refused the order were dismissed with “general, under honorable conditions” classifications, hindering their ability to receive veterans benefits, such as GI Bill assistance.<\/p>\n In a January executive order, President Donald Trump reinstated those discharged under the previous mandate, stating that the vaccine mandate was an unfair and unnecessary burden on the service members.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Biden Administration\u2019s authoritarian COVID mandates upended the lives and livelihoods of thousands of service members and veterans,\u201d VA Secretary Doug Collins said in the announcement. \u201cWe are proud to help implement President Trump\u2019s executive order and make these veterans whole again.\u201d<\/p>\n After the executive order, the Defense Department sent \u201cletters of apology\u201d in April to more than 8,700 service members who involuntarily separated and sent correspondence to members who voluntarily separated, urging them to return to service.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the most atrocious attacks on our military by the previous administration was the discharging and targeting of perfectly healthy warfighters who refused to take an experimental vaccine implemented by an illegal mandate,\u201d Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in the announcement.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must never let that happen again, and we must also right the wrongs of the past in order to restore trust.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n