The U.S. Department of Defense website honoring an army general who fought in the Vietnam War and received the nation’s top military award has been taken down, with the addition of "DEI" appended to the page’s URL.
On Saturday, when visiting Maj Gen Charles Calvin Rogers’s Medal of Honor page on the U.S. Army website resulted in a "404" error message. Additionally, the URL had been altered, replacing the word "medal" with "deimedal."
In 1970, Rogers received the Medal of Honor from President Richard Nixon for his service during the Vietnam War, where he sustained injuries three times while defending a base.
According to In the West Virginia Military Hall of Fame, Rogers held the distinction of being the most senior African American recipient of the award. Following his passing in 1990, Rogers was laid to rest at the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C. In 1999, a bridge in Fayette County, his birthplace, was dedicated as the Charles C. Rogers Memorial Bridge.
By Sunday evening, a "404 – Page Not Found" error was displayed. appeared On the Department of Defense’s website for Rogers, alongside the message: "The page you're seeking could have been relocated, had its name changed, or might currently be inaccessible."
A screenshot posted The author Brandon Friedman posted on Bluesky on Saturday night about seeing a sneak peek from Google of an entry for Rogers’s profile on the Department of Defense’s site.
On November 1, 2021, the Google preview for the entry states: "Medal of Honor Monday: Army Maj Gen. Charles Calvin Rogers." Underneath this, it says: "During his time with the Army, Maj Gen Charles Calvin Rogers fought for both racial and gender equality as a Black serviceman."
"When you search for his name, the entry listed below appears. Upon clicking it, you'll notice that the page has been removed, and the URL now includes 'DEI medal,'" Friedman noted.
The Guardian has reached out to the Department of Defense for their input.
After assuming office in January, President Donald Trump initiated steps to reverse DEI – diversity, equity, and inclusion – initiatives throughout the federal government.
One executive order aimed to end every "directives, policies, programs, preferences, and initiatives within the federal government" labeled as "unlawful DEI and 'diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility' (DEIA) programs” by the Trump administration.
On Friday, the Trump administration achieved a victory when an appellate court ruled in their favor. lifted A injunction against executive orders aiming to terminate the federal government’s backing of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives.
