There is no better place to learn about the rich and diverse history of the United States than Arlington National Cemetery. Stepping on the grounds of Arlington offers a powerful reminder of the service and sacrifice of Americans from all walks of life, who answered this nation’s call and often paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Outrageous is a mild statement. Highly Concerning is another. What can be done to continue the story until all the pages are replaced? "Everyone counts, or Nobody counts" is an applicable statement - Harry Bosch by Michael Connelly.
Such disrespect to those who have served regardless of their gender or race.. Being a 20 year veteran of the U.S. Army I can't believe that it's come to such disrespect of our nation's history!!
My mom served in the Women’s Army Corps and she was so proud of that. This would have broken her heart. What’s next? Will they close the Women’s Memorial at Arlington? This is disgraceful and it’s only going to get worse.
Just read the WaPo article (by Tobi Raji and Michael E. Ruane) titled, “Arlington Cemetery Website Scrubs Links About Black and Female Veterans” and (despite seeing red) I noticed your name and a couple of quotes by you in it and I immediately came here to restack your piece about this latest abomination by the this vile regime. The article says, in part:
“Arlington National Cemetery has scrubbed information about prominent Black, Hispanic and female service members and topics such as the Civil War from its website, part of a broader effort across the Defense Department to remove all references to diversity, equity and inclusion from its online presence.”
It says that Arlington removed internal links that directed users to webpages listing ‘Notable Graves’ of Black, Hispanic and female veterans, where users could read short biographies about people like, “Gen. Colin L. Powell, the youngest and first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Hector Santa Anna, a World War II B-17 bomber pilot, Berlin Airlift pilot and career military leader; members of the Tuskegee Airmen, the country’s first Black military airmen whose accomplishments include completing more than 1,800 missions during World War II; and members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all-Black, all-female Women’s Army Corps unit to serve overseas during World War II. Users could also read about Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first Black person to sit on the high court, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is buried alongside her husband, Martin Ginsburg, an Army veteran.”
(How rich that this odious act was directed by nepo baby & draft dodger, Cadet Bone Spurs.)
The article goes on to say that those biographies “are still accessible through other internal links, such as ‘U.S. Supreme Court’ or ‘Prominent Military Figures.’ But the categories ‘African American History,’ ‘Hispanic American History’ and ‘Women’s History’ no longer appear prominently. Those landing pages can still be accessed via search or by copying and pasting the links into a search bar.”
We owe QM General Montgomery Meigs a debt of gratitude. Had he not confiscated the Custis estate as a cemetery for Union soldiers, it might have remained in the Lee family. As it was Congress had to buy it from Lee's son, but it returned to the Nation.
The Presidio of San Francisco was the home of the 10th USCT Cavalry Regiment. About 30 years ago, Eric Saul, a Jewish American historian stationed there did a groundbreaking exhibit on the Buffalo Soldiers. After Nancy Pelosi made PSF into a National Park, African Americans have commemorated the 10th, in some cases, their direct ancestors.
Eric's next big project was honoring the 442nd, which helped release the repressed energies for Japanese Americans to recover our stories. Neither of Saul's projects would have been allowed under Hegseth!
When I worked at PSF in the 1970s I did not realize that I often walked past the office building of the Persecutor of My Race - General John DeWitt. He created the hysteria giving FDR the excuse to order my grandparents-in-law in SF and all Nikkei in the Western Defense Command to self-deport for transport into "detention centers", which FDR himself called concentration camps. When the Presidio turned into the National Urban Park it hired a historian. She gave a tour of the DeWitt office space. (I passed on a perfect chance to deface it! Oh! The drawback of being born into a polite ethnic group.)
About 8 years ago the US Army created its new museum. When it opens next year at Ft Belvoir, VA, it has a Hegseth problem. Its entry-way exhibit will be on the 442nd-100th-MIS. I guess - the other shoe has not yet dropped - that the US Army Museum will have a giant empty space.
Two of my first mentors were WW2 vets. One was Dan Inouye when he was a Senator. #47 wouldn't have liked him around: Dan had sacrificed his right arm destroying a Nazi machine gun nest. Dan was kinda short, too. Not #47's kinda hero.
It just hit me: If Dan's middle name started with "E" and not "K" (for Ken, which means 'strong' in Japanese), he would have been a "DEI" government official himself! Perhaps the state of Hawai'i entirely (except for Tulsi Gabbard) is too DEI to be a state?
About Tulsi: she used to boast that she was the first Samoan - 1/4th - American in Congress. Anyone hear her do this recently? Maybe she's passing using her other 3/4ths.
Daniel Elon Inouye, Daniel Elon Inouye. Nope, doesn't work.
Thank you for your vigilance and reminding us of the consequences of the attack on DEI. I shook my head when i read in another of your posts that pictures of the famed bomber have been removed because "gay" appears in its historic name.
This breaks my heart. My 4th great grandfather enlisted from Illinois as an abolitionist fought for the Union, was wounded at the battle of Resaka, Georgia died at the Tennessee Officer’s hospital. He would be appalled.
My parents’ are being interred in a couple weeks. My Dad, OSS101, would be appalled.
I was asking if you knew if this erasure includes other wars than the Civil War. My mother was in the WAC (Women's Army Corps) in WWII. I'm going to look into this.
I can’t “like” this entry as it makes me so sad, but I continue to thank you in this space for reporting on the continued assault on history education. I am sad for all the curriculum writers and interpreters whose work was erased, amd the students who wil not be emit from their scholarship for a few years. I hope the efforts of folks like the Internet Archive can help us restore these resources once the reign of this regime is over.
Thanks for this post. It seems relevant to contribute something that I emailed to a number of people last night:
No doubt many have seen the news that the Pentagon has purged web pages with mentions of the word gay, which means it has purged pages showing the Hiroshima bomber, the Enola Gay, including photos of its famous pilot, Colonel Tibbets. (He named the B-29 for his mom.) As seen 30 years ago in the huge debate at and around the National Air and Space Museum, people have strong feelings about that airplane. But those feelings are irrelevant to discussions of how the president is conducting his war on history, to use the apt term that Kevin is using. Anyway, what about mentions of Navy Ensign George Gay? At the Pacific war-changing Battle of Midway, he earned the Navy Cross--the Navy and Marine Corps award second only to the Medal of Honor. Of 30 aircrew--pilots and radiomen--from Torpedo Squadron 8 who flew that day from the carrier Hornet, he was the only survivor. Will the raving, pro-Russian-barbarian madman's grotesque verbal dragnet snag him too?
Hate to say it, but you have to wonder whether we’ll soon be hearing of the closure of some historical parks that offend the sensibilities of the DEI police. A powerful irony: they argue that we are, or should be, in a post-racial, post-sexist world, yet bigotry, racism, and sexism are their weapons.
This administration wants us to believe that the only contributions worth honoring came from white men. They are working to erase all others. Trump, Hegseth and those who believe this is a proper course are pathetic human beings.
This is beyond wrong. How can the Trump Administration treat deceased veterans with such casual disdain. Horrific.
Outrageous is a mild statement. Highly Concerning is another. What can be done to continue the story until all the pages are replaced? "Everyone counts, or Nobody counts" is an applicable statement - Harry Bosch by Michael Connelly.
Such disrespect to those who have served regardless of their gender or race.. Being a 20 year veteran of the U.S. Army I can't believe that it's come to such disrespect of our nation's history!!
My mom served in the Women’s Army Corps and she was so proud of that. This would have broken her heart. What’s next? Will they close the Women’s Memorial at Arlington? This is disgraceful and it’s only going to get worse.
Just read the WaPo article (by Tobi Raji and Michael E. Ruane) titled, “Arlington Cemetery Website Scrubs Links About Black and Female Veterans” and (despite seeing red) I noticed your name and a couple of quotes by you in it and I immediately came here to restack your piece about this latest abomination by the this vile regime. The article says, in part:
“Arlington National Cemetery has scrubbed information about prominent Black, Hispanic and female service members and topics such as the Civil War from its website, part of a broader effort across the Defense Department to remove all references to diversity, equity and inclusion from its online presence.”
It says that Arlington removed internal links that directed users to webpages listing ‘Notable Graves’ of Black, Hispanic and female veterans, where users could read short biographies about people like, “Gen. Colin L. Powell, the youngest and first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Hector Santa Anna, a World War II B-17 bomber pilot, Berlin Airlift pilot and career military leader; members of the Tuskegee Airmen, the country’s first Black military airmen whose accomplishments include completing more than 1,800 missions during World War II; and members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all-Black, all-female Women’s Army Corps unit to serve overseas during World War II. Users could also read about Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first Black person to sit on the high court, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is buried alongside her husband, Martin Ginsburg, an Army veteran.”
(How rich that this odious act was directed by nepo baby & draft dodger, Cadet Bone Spurs.)
The article goes on to say that those biographies “are still accessible through other internal links, such as ‘U.S. Supreme Court’ or ‘Prominent Military Figures.’ But the categories ‘African American History,’ ‘Hispanic American History’ and ‘Women’s History’ no longer appear prominently. Those landing pages can still be accessed via search or by copying and pasting the links into a search bar.”
We owe QM General Montgomery Meigs a debt of gratitude. Had he not confiscated the Custis estate as a cemetery for Union soldiers, it might have remained in the Lee family. As it was Congress had to buy it from Lee's son, but it returned to the Nation.
The Presidio of San Francisco was the home of the 10th USCT Cavalry Regiment. About 30 years ago, Eric Saul, a Jewish American historian stationed there did a groundbreaking exhibit on the Buffalo Soldiers. After Nancy Pelosi made PSF into a National Park, African Americans have commemorated the 10th, in some cases, their direct ancestors.
Eric's next big project was honoring the 442nd, which helped release the repressed energies for Japanese Americans to recover our stories. Neither of Saul's projects would have been allowed under Hegseth!
When I worked at PSF in the 1970s I did not realize that I often walked past the office building of the Persecutor of My Race - General John DeWitt. He created the hysteria giving FDR the excuse to order my grandparents-in-law in SF and all Nikkei in the Western Defense Command to self-deport for transport into "detention centers", which FDR himself called concentration camps. When the Presidio turned into the National Urban Park it hired a historian. She gave a tour of the DeWitt office space. (I passed on a perfect chance to deface it! Oh! The drawback of being born into a polite ethnic group.)
About 8 years ago the US Army created its new museum. When it opens next year at Ft Belvoir, VA, it has a Hegseth problem. Its entry-way exhibit will be on the 442nd-100th-MIS. I guess - the other shoe has not yet dropped - that the US Army Museum will have a giant empty space.
Two of my first mentors were WW2 vets. One was Dan Inouye when he was a Senator. #47 wouldn't have liked him around: Dan had sacrificed his right arm destroying a Nazi machine gun nest. Dan was kinda short, too. Not #47's kinda hero.
It just hit me: If Dan's middle name started with "E" and not "K" (for Ken, which means 'strong' in Japanese), he would have been a "DEI" government official himself! Perhaps the state of Hawai'i entirely (except for Tulsi Gabbard) is too DEI to be a state?
About Tulsi: she used to boast that she was the first Samoan - 1/4th - American in Congress. Anyone hear her do this recently? Maybe she's passing using her other 3/4ths.
Daniel Elon Inouye, Daniel Elon Inouye. Nope, doesn't work.
Thank you for your vigilance and reminding us of the consequences of the attack on DEI. I shook my head when i read in another of your posts that pictures of the famed bomber have been removed because "gay" appears in its historic name.
Only straight, white, Christian men count to these people. Even though even they too fall under DEI if they are vets, disabled, or over 50.
This breaks my heart. My 4th great grandfather enlisted from Illinois as an abolitionist fought for the Union, was wounded at the battle of Resaka, Georgia died at the Tennessee Officer’s hospital. He would be appalled.
My parents’ are being interred in a couple weeks. My Dad, OSS101, would be appalled.
May your parents’ memory be a blessing.
Do you know if they've eliminated lessons on women or Black Americans in other wars, like World War II? This makes my blood boil!
I did not know. Thanks for the update.
I was asking if you knew if this erasure includes other wars than the Civil War. My mother was in the WAC (Women's Army Corps) in WWII. I'm going to look into this.
Aaaarrrrrgggghhhh! 😝😆🥺
I can’t “like” this entry as it makes me so sad, but I continue to thank you in this space for reporting on the continued assault on history education. I am sad for all the curriculum writers and interpreters whose work was erased, amd the students who wil not be emit from their scholarship for a few years. I hope the efforts of folks like the Internet Archive can help us restore these resources once the reign of this regime is over.
I hate having to write these posts. There is absolutely zero justification behind these decisions.
Thanks for this post. It seems relevant to contribute something that I emailed to a number of people last night:
No doubt many have seen the news that the Pentagon has purged web pages with mentions of the word gay, which means it has purged pages showing the Hiroshima bomber, the Enola Gay, including photos of its famous pilot, Colonel Tibbets. (He named the B-29 for his mom.) As seen 30 years ago in the huge debate at and around the National Air and Space Museum, people have strong feelings about that airplane. But those feelings are irrelevant to discussions of how the president is conducting his war on history, to use the apt term that Kevin is using. Anyway, what about mentions of Navy Ensign George Gay? At the Pacific war-changing Battle of Midway, he earned the Navy Cross--the Navy and Marine Corps award second only to the Medal of Honor. Of 30 aircrew--pilots and radiomen--from Torpedo Squadron 8 who flew that day from the carrier Hornet, he was the only survivor. Will the raving, pro-Russian-barbarian madman's grotesque verbal dragnet snag him too?
The situation surrounding the Enola Gay highlights the incompetence and recklessness of this administration.
Hate to say it, but you have to wonder whether we’ll soon be hearing of the closure of some historical parks that offend the sensibilities of the DEI police. A powerful irony: they argue that we are, or should be, in a post-racial, post-sexist world, yet bigotry, racism, and sexism are their weapons.
Well said, John. I am counting the days.
Inexcusable!
This administration wants us to believe that the only contributions worth honoring came from white men. They are working to erase all others. Trump, Hegseth and those who believe this is a proper course are pathetic human beings.
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