The US defense department webpage celebrating an army general who served in the Vietnam war and was awarded the countryâs highest military decoration has been removed and the letters âDEIâ added to the siteâs address.
On Saturday, US army Maj Gen Charles Calvin Rogersâs Medal of Honor webpage led to a â404â error message. The URL was also changed, with the word âmedalâ changed to âdeimedalâ.
Rogers, who was awarded the Medal of Honor by then president Richard Nixon in 1970, served in the Vietnam war, where he was wounded three times while leading the defense of a base.
According to the West Virginia military hall of fame, Rogers was the highest-ranking African American to receive the medal. After his death in 1990, Rogersâs remains were buried at the Arlington national cemetery in Washington DC, and in 1999 a bridge in Fayette county, where Rogers was born, was renamed the Charles C Rogers Bridge.
As of Sunday afternoon, a â404 â Page Not Foundâ message appeared on the defense departmentâs webpage for Rogers, along with the message: âThe page you are looking for might have been moved, renamed, or may be temporarily unavailable.â
A screenshot posted by the writer Brandon Friedman on Bluesky on Saturday evening showed the Google preview of an entry of Rogersâs profile on the defense departmentâs website.
Dated 1 November 2021, the entryâs Google preview reads: âMedal of Honor Monday: Army Maj Gen. Charles Calvin Rogers.â Below it are the words: âArmy Maj Gen Charles Calvin Rogers served through all of it. As a Black man, he worked for gender and race equality while in the service.â
âGoogle his name and the entry below comes up. When you click, youâll see the page has been deleted and the URL changed to include âDEI medal,ââ Friedman wrote.
The Guardian has asked the defense department for comment.
Since taking office in January, Donald Trump has moved his administration to roll back DEI â diversity, equity and inclusion â efforts across the federal government.
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One executive order sought to terminate all âmandates, policies, programs, preferences and activities in the federal governmentâ, which the Trump administration deems âillegal DEI and âdiversity, equity, inclusion and accessibilityâ (DEIA) programsâ.
In a win for the Trump administration on Friday, an appeals court lifted a block on executive orders that seek to end the federal governmentâs support for DEI programs.