eprinted with permission from Alternet

At least 155 sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt, one of the Navy's Nimitz-class nuclear powered aircraft carriers, have tested positive for coronavirus. That number has now risen to at least 156, as its former commanding officer, Captain Brett Crozier, has just tested positive for the deadly virus, The New York Times reports.

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly fired Captain Crozier after a letter the captain sent to his superiors pleading for help, and begging them to not sit by and let his sailors die, was leaked to the press.

On Saturday, President Trump justified the firing of Captain Crozier during an especially off-the-rails press conference. Trump blamed Crozier for writing "a five page letter," and said writing the letter was "terrible," and sending it was "inappropriate." The president also blamed Crozier for stopping in Vietnam and letting sailors off the ship, which would not have been Crozier's decision.