FILE - In this Jan. 17, 2020 file photo provided by the U.S. Navy, Capt. Brett Crozier, then-commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), addresses the crew in San Diego, Calif. The dismissed captain knew he was jeopardizing his military career when he broke protocol and sent a now-famous email warning of possible sailor deaths due to a coronavirus breakout on board, but he did so in an urgent effort to help avoid a "larger catastrophe," he wrote in a witness statement obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Alexander Williams/U.S. Navy via AP, File)
Retired U.S. Navy captain and former Santa Rosa resident Brett Crozier is back home. Crozier was the keynote speaker at Thursday’s Veterans Tribute at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. The 1988 graduate of Santa Rosa High School had a three-decade-long career in the Navy. He made national headlines in 2020, when he sounded the alarm about a COVID-19 outbreak on his aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt. An email he sent to his superiors alerting them of the outbreak, which forced the ship to dock in Guam, was leaked to the media. Crozier was then stripped of his command a short time later.