Reaction from Brad Woodhouse, President of Protect Our Care: “Woefully incompetent Secretary Hegseth marched in line with RFK Jr.’s baseless anti-vax agenda and it got a U.S. soldier killed. Hegseth rolled the dice with the lives of American service members by removing a safe and proven shield against deadly disease — and predictably lost. Military readiness suffered and a young Airman paid the ultimate price for Hegseth’s arrogance. If Hegseth and Health Secretary Kennedy have any honor, their resignations should be on the president’s desk today.”
San Antonio Express-News: Air Force confirms first death in Lackland flu outbreak, Rep. Castro says
A flu bug has swept the ranks of recruits at San Antonio’s Lackland Air Force Base, the service’s basic training hub. Nearly 300 are said to have been infected.
By Sig Christenson, June 30, 2026 6:13 p.m.
The Air Force has acknowledged that the recent death of a recruit in basic training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland was caused by a flu virus that has swept the base, according to U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro.
It was the first confirmation that Airman 1st Class Keon Talik McDaniel, 25, of Grand Rapids, Mich., died of influenza. Previously, the Air Force said only that McDaniel, who was in his sixth week of basic training, suffered “a medical emergency” and died at Brooke Army Medical Center on June 16. Air Force officials did not disclose whether he had contracted the flu. They said the cause of death was under investigation.
On Tuesday afternoon, however, Castro said in a statement: “The Air Force confirmed that trainee Keon McDaniel died from the flu during the outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.”
The San Antonio Democrat has been in contact with Air Force officials to track the influenza surge and has given regular public updates. He and two fellow Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday called for federal legislation to require flu vaccinations for all military personnel.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rescinded the flu vaccine requirement in April, and in May influenza began spreading at Lackland, which is the hub of Air Force basic training, graduating 35,000 airmen every year.
Castro said McDaniel’s death was “a tragedy that could have been prevented were it not for the reckless actions of Secretary Hegseth. I will continue to push for the Pentagon to fully restore its vaccine mandate and protect lives. Our military must be guided by science, not politics.”
After the flu began spreading at Lackland, the Pentagon suspended the voluntary vaccine policy for recruits at the base; for the time being at least, they once again must be vaccinated.
When the outbreak became public on June 18, 160 recruits were said to have been infected. By June 25, the number had reached 284, Castro said Tuesday. The Air Force said it could neither confirm nor dispute that number.
Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Gilbert Cisneros, D-Calif., joined Castro on Tuesday in proposing to amend the National Defense Authorization Act, which funds the military, to make flu shots mandatory for all service personnel. So far, they said, Republicans had blocked the amendment.
“In April, Secretary Hegseth called the flu mandate ‘irrational and absurd,'” Castro said at a Capitol Hill news conference. “What’s absurd about keeping those who serve our nation safe? No president or secretary should be able to play politics or put the health of our troops at risk.”
Houlahan is an Air Force veteran and a member of the House Armed Services Committee. “I know that military readiness is built on discipline, professionalism and on leaders to make decisions based on evidence and not on ideology,” she said. “Readiness begins and ends with healthy troops. That is why what is happening at Lackland is so deeply disturbing and troubling.
“Nearly 300 service members have become ill. Several have been hospitalized. One young American has reportedly died from flu-related causes,” she said.
McDaniel was born in Panama City, Fla., the youngest of 10 children. His father, Christopher, served in the Air Force. The family lived in Ramstein, Germany, site of a U.S. Air Force base; San Antonio; Battle Creek, Mich.; and Las Vegas before settling in Grand Rapids, Mich.
The younger McDaniel graduated from Grand Rapids Central High School in 2019. He loved cars and fixing things and obtained a certification in automotive technology from Grand Rapids Community College, according to a funeral home obituary. He later joined the Michigan Air National Guard, 110th Wing, based in Battle Creek, and was looking forward to working in a civil engineering squadron.
“He thought it would be the coolest thing in the world to learn how diesel engines worked and how the power produced would be distributed,” the obituary said. “With boundless optimism and excitement,” he reported for basic training at Lackland this spring.
Active Duty Talk, a Facebook group of Air Force noncommissioned officers, paid tribute to the young airman.
“To Trainee McDaniel, even though your time in the Air Force was short, you will always remain a member of the Air Force family,” read an unsigned post. “To the parents of Keon, please know you are in our deepest thoughts and prayers as you navigate this unimaginable tragedy.
“Trainee McDaniel took the call to wear his country’s uniform and serve his country proudly. The Halls of Valhalla have gained a new warrior.”
Recruits at Lackland long have been required to be vaccinated against measles, mumps, rubella, polio and other diseases. They receive the shots during “Zero Week,” the beginning of boot camp. On April 20, however, Hegseth announced that he was making flu vaccinations optional for all active-duty, reserve and Defense Department personnel.
“Under the disastrous Biden administration, this Pentagon waged an unrelenting war on our warriors on many fronts, including when it came to denying them simple medical autonomy and the freedom to express their religious convictions,” Hegseth said then. “In other words, our men and women in uniform were forced to choose between their conscience and their country.
“The War Department is once again restoring freedom to our Joint Force,” he said. “We are discarding the mandatory flu vaccine requirement, effective immediately.”
The War Department is once again restoring freedom to our Joint Force.
We are discarding the mandatory flu vaccine requirement, effective immediately. pic.twitter.com/9K5W8g0NsD
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) April 21, 2026
Castro and his two fellow Democrats on Tuesday cast Hegseth as an ideologue who had needlessly jeopardized the health of military personnel.
“Our colleagues in Congress have rejected our common-sense call to vaccinate service members from the flu,” Castro said. “Despite this outbreak of flu at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, this Congress, the Republican majority, has refused to even allow an amendment to the NDAA to reinstate that flu vaccine mandate.”
Cisneros, a one-time naval officer who served as undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness during the Biden administration, said the flu vaccine requirement was designed to protect troops and was backed by science.
“If people are sick and can’t do their jobs, that affects the readiness of the military,” he said. “To kind of just ignore the science, it’s unacceptable, and it’s unthinkable and very ignorant.”