(Full title: Lawmakers Demand Trump Administration
Restore Removed Webpages Celebrating Troops)
***
This was such a profound insult to every individual whose
military service record celebrations were removed, and
their families -- as if their service MEANT LESS because
they were not White males... What kind of onerous
backward psychopathic horseshit IS this???
How does ANYONE not react in anything but revolted
disgust to this? How??? GOPers? Hey, Graxerife! Old
Timer! Karen, you around?! What say you??? How are you
not ashamed unto death by this???
***
A group of Senate Democrats will be sending a letter
Thursday demanding that President Donald Trump and
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reverse recent policies
"that seek to erase records of the historic
accomplishments of our troops" amid the administration's
removal of online material about women, minority and
LGBTQ+ service members and veterans.
The four lawmakers signed onto the letter are Sens. Tammy
Duckworth of Illinois; Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut;
and Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, both of Arizona -- all
veterans who serve on the Senate Armed Services and
Veterans' Affairs committees. They cited content about
record-breaking female aviators, World War II Navajo Code
Talkers, medal recipients in segregated combat units, and
"numerous other wartime sacrifices by soldiers, sailors,
Marines and airmen" as being removed during the purge,
according to the letter obtained by Military.com.
Late last month, Hegseth ordered the services to scrub
articles, photos and videos that promote "diversity,
equity and inclusion," or DEI, within a week, which has
resulted in the removal of the wide variety of content,
as well as a story about baseball legend Jackie
Robinson's Army service that was then restored Wednesday
following public backlash.
The senators found it "especially unacceptable" that
Arlington National Cemetery scrubbed information about
Black, Hispanic and female troops from its "Notable
Graves" website, according to the letter.
As of Wednesday, it appeared that biographies previously
removed from the cemetery's site were restored, a common
trend amid the purge after agencies and military
components rushed to comply with the order and were met
with disapproval from lawmakers, veterans groups and the
public.
The result has been a confusing and inconsistent
landscape of inactive webpages that are sometimes
restored, while others remain inaccessible.
"We object to the department removing from the public
record stories that feature extraordinary achievements of
warriors and veterans," the letter states. "We urge you
to promptly reverse these indiscriminate, sweeping
actions seeking to erase the legacy of our service
members."
Military.com previously reported that material related to
the Code Talkers; Medal of Honor recipients and women who
served during the Civil War, World War II, the Korean War
and the Vietnam War were removed from various service or
Pentagon websites in the last month.
Some material, such as a Pentagon story about Army Maj.
Gen. Charles Calvin Rogers, a Medal of Honor recipient,
had been restored as of Wednesday, but others related to
women or Native Americans posted during cultural
awareness months were still removed. The letters "DEI"
were added to some of the dead URLs.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that some webpages
for the Code Talkers and other Native American veterans
were restored, though it noted "any that also mention
Native American Heritage Month remain down" and thousands
of other pages about diverse groups of service members
and veterans are still inactive.
On Wednesday, Pentagon Press Secretary John Ullyot,
referencing Robinson, the Code Talkers, Tuskegee Airmen
and Marines at Iwo Jima, issued a statement saying that,
"in the rare cases that content is removed -- either
deliberately or by mistake -- that is out of the clearly
outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the
components and they correct the content so it recognizes
our heroes for their dedicated service alongside their
fellow Americans, period."
"We do not view or highlight them through the prism of
immutable characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, or
sex," he added. "We do so only by recognizing their
patriotism and dedication to the warfighting mission like
ever [sic] other American who has worn the uniform."
The removal of such sites following Pentagon guidance
last month to embark on a "digital content refresh,"
according to a memo Hegseth signed, "resulted in the
erasure of important American stories of heroism of
current and past service members," the lawmakers said.
They argued that "removing these records exacerbates an
already concerning recruiting crisis, undermines morale
across the Joint Force, and betrays our nation's
commitment to honoring the service of veterans."
They added that "these shortsighted actions" would
discourage eligible Americans from signing up for the
military because it sends "a message that they will not
be welcomed in the armed forces." They also alleged that
the purge creates division in the ranks, and adversaries
would look to capitalize on that discord.
"Finally, your administration claims to support warriors
and Veterans, but these needless actions undermine a
basic commitment to our heroes in uniform – that their
sacrifices in service of Americans will be appropriately
honored and remembered," the letter said. "Public
celebration of those military officers and enlisted
service members who made extraordinary contributions to
the military and the American people is the least we owe
them and their family, friends and communities."
On Jan. 29, Trump issued an executive order directing the
military to get rid of programs, offices and initiatives
related to what the administration refers to as DEI. Over
the following month, services began removing websites
highlighting those programs or historical references to
diverse groups, in some cases having to add them back
later.
"We are encouraged by steps the department has taken to
reinstate some of these webpages, including the page
highlighting Charles C. Rogers, the Medal of Honor
recipient, and Air Force training websites related to the
Tuskegee Airmen," the letter said, citing an early
example of one of the services reversing course on
removals. "However, we remain concerned that these
efforts to correct the record are ad hoc, reactive and
insufficient."
Trump's executive order was followed by a policy from
Hegseth in January that banned government funds and
recognition for cultural awareness months such as Black
History Month and Women's History Month, declaring that
"identity months [are] dead at [the] DoD."
The lawmakers demanded that Trump and Hegseth respond to
their letter by April 1 with information about specific
guidance the services have received on archiving material
as they apply to the Federal Records Act, a law that
requires the government to maintain documents; how many
man-hours and the cost required to purge the material;
and when the material would be restored.
When asked whether Duckworth expects the administration
to respond by that date and, should it not, what other
mechanisms the lawmakers have to reverse the policies
outlined in their letter, a spokesperson for the senator
said she "has already pledged to be a blanket 'no' vote
on all cabinet-level nominees in protest of the Trump
administration's lawlessness and she will continue to
consider other ways she can apply pressure on the
administration until they restore these website pages
that should have never been taken down in the first
place."
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