Trump's anti-DEI purge is erasing these military legends
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American military officers of the 369th Infantry Regiment - also known as the 'Harlem Hellfighters' - during World War I, in Marne, France, circa 1917. Photo: United States Army/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
There has been a massive purge of articles about soldiers of color on government websites following President Trump's executive order ending federal diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The big picture: The Trump administration has targeted DEI initiatives in both its rhetoric and through its actions dismantling federal DEI programs — halting efforts to bolster diversity and inclusion across several agencies.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has declared that "DEI is dead."
Between the lines: What some see as an effort to erase "wokeness" and DEI initiatives, is a battle over how America accepts, acknowledges or edits its pasts, Axios' Delano Massey writes.
Jackie Robinson
The U.S. Department of Defense removed — then restored — a webpage featuring baseball and civil rights pioneer Jackie Robinson, who served in the Army during World War II and segregation, Axios' Russell Contreras reports.
- The previously removed article discussed his service during the war, before he broke the modern-day Major League Baseball color barrier for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
- "On July 6, 1944, Robinson boarded an Army bus. The driver ordered Robinson to move to the back of the bus, but Robinson refused," the article states.
- "The driver called the military police, who took Robinson into custody. He was subsequently court martialed, but he was acquitted."
Navajo Code Talkers
Articles about the famed Native American Code Talkers have disappeared from some military websites, with several broken URLs now labeled "DEI."
- From 1942 to 1945, the Navajo Code Talkers were instrumental in every major Marine Corps operation in the Pacific Theater of World War II. They were critical to securing America's victory at Iwo Jima.
- Axios identified at least 10 articles mentioning the Code Talkers that had disappeared from the U.S. Army and Department of Defense websites as of Monday.
The latest: Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren announced Wednesday that Pentagon officials promised to restore the pages.
442nd Regimental Combat Team
A National Guard article on the celebrated 442nd Regimental Combat Team — made up almost entirely of Nisei, or second-generation Japanese-Americans — was removed.
- A U.S. Army page that was deleted but restored this weekend following complaints — albeit without its previous reference to "AAPI Heritage" — identifies the 442nd as "the most decorated unit for its size and length of service during the entire history of the U.S. military."
Harlem Hellfighters
The National Guard removed two of its articles about the 369th Infantry Regiment, a highly decorated, segregated unit renowned in the U.S. and France for its heroics in World War I.
- The unit was initially formed as the first Black unit of the New York National Guard. Its enormous victory parade in 1919 was considered a landmark for Black pride and civil rights.
- They were the first American recipients of France's illustrious Croix de Guerre and many received the Legion of Honor — France's highest honor for civil or military merit.
Indigenous Americans' contributions
Axios found other removed pages about Indigenous Americans' contributions, including:
- Profiles of Iraq combat veterans from Arizona, Louisiana and Nevada; a paratrooper with the 173rd Sky Soldiers; and a Cherokee Brigadier General from Oklahoma;
- A chronicle of Native American women who served, including a medic who died while fighting Colorado's Storm Mountain Fire in 1994; and
- A news alert that an Oglala Sioux South Dakota National Guardsman had obtained an exemption to wear his hair long in accordance with his religion.
Tuskegee Airmen, WASPs
The Tuskegee Airmen, once American heroes, nearly became collateral damage in a political battle.
- The Air Force initially tried to remove their references from its curriculum but reversed course days later.
The Army also removed pages honoring the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) and Philippine Scouts of World War II, the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, Mexican American Medal of Honor recipients.
Charles Calvin Rogers
A story about Charles Calvin Rogers, a Black Army officer who received a Medal of Honor, was taken down and its URL altered to include the letters "DEI" in the web address. It appeared back online shortly after.
- Rogers received his medal for his brave defense of a firebase near South Vietnam's border with Cambodia in 1968. He spent his career challenging discrimination in the Army.
Zoom out: Axios in recent days found the DOD had given similar "DEI" labels to now-broken pages that honored:
- Civil War nurses;
- Prominent Black veterans and units, including the 761st Tank Battalion and 555th Parachute Infantry; and
- A Latino airman who coordinated mental health support for military personnel. The deleted story is titled, "Embraced in America, airman pays it forward."
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