The Pentagon said that internet pages honoring a Black Medal of Honor winner and Japanese American service members were mistakenly taken down — but staunchly defended its overall campaign to strip out content singling out the contributions by women and minority groups, which the Trump administration considers “DEI.”
A Defense Department webpage honoring Black Medal of Honor recipient Army Maj. Gen. Charles Calvin Rogers was taken down last week. The department actually temporarily changed the web address to insert “deimedal-of-honor”, which then led to a “404 – Page not found” message, according to a screenshot captured by the Internet Archive on March 15.
A U.S. official said the website was mistakenly taken down during an automated removal process.
But it’s not the only one. Thousands of pages honoring contributions by women and minority groups have been taken down in efforts to delete material promoting diversity, equity and inclusion — a step that Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell defended at a briefing.
But it isn’t resonating that way with veterans or communities who honor those groups — and raises questions as to whether the administration’s fixation on getting rid of images that highlight the contributions of women, minorities and members of the LGBTQ community will ultimately backfire and hurt recruiting. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump have already removed the only female four-star officer on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy Adm. Lisa Franchetti, and removed its Black Chairman, Gen. CQ Brown Jr.
Another page that was removed featured the World War II Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team, U.S. Army spokesperson Christopher Surridge said Monday.
According to the Army, the 4,000 men who made up the unit were mostly American-born children of Japanese immigrants, known as Nisei soldiers. Their losses were so great the whole unit had to be replaced nearly 3.5 times, according to the Army. In total, about 14,000 men served, ultimately earning 9,486 Purple Hearts, 21 Medals of Honor and an unprecedented eight Presidential Unit Citations.
But their story was removed “in accordance with a Presidential Executive Order and guidance from the Secretary of Defense” when the service took down a website celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage.
“The Army is tirelessly working through content on that site and articles related to the 442nd Infantry Regiment and Nisei Soldiers will be republished to better align with current guidance,” Surridge said in a statement. “The Army remains committed to sharing the stories of our Soldiers, their units, and their sacrifice.”
The mostly Japanese American segregated unit was highly decorated despite facing prejudice after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. After the removal of the 442nd page was reported by the Honolulu Advertiser and other media outlets, the U.S. Army’s website prominently displayed a page with a “spotlight” label featuring the unit’s history.
