Removal of Army hero’s story part of DEI purge across Pentagon

The recent purge of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the Department of left the story of a Clack Army officer who earned the Medal of Honor for his defense of a firebase a casualty.

Last week, it was noticed the Department of Defense online series honoring Medal of Honor winners had taken down the page telling the story of Army Maj. Gen. Charles Calvin Rogers who earned the honor for his actions at a then-Lieutenant Colonel.

Last week, Rogers’ story was taken down and the URL was altered to include the letters “DEI” in the web address.

Rogers became the highest-ranking African-American to earn the Medal of Honor.

President Richard Nixon presented the Medal of Honor to Rogers at a White House ceremony on May 14, 1970, for his leadership in defending Fire Base Rita. He then returned to combat duty in Vietnam and over his Army career that ended with his retirement as a major general in 1984, he received the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, four Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart.

According to the citation, the commander of 1st Battalion, 5th Artillery, 1st Infantry Division, risked his life while the forward fire support base was subjected to a concentrated bombardment of heavy mortar, rocket and rocket-propelled grenade fire. Simultaneously, the position was struck by a human wave ground assault, led by sappers who breached the defensive barriers with bangalore torpedoes and penetrated the defensive perimeter. He was wounded twice during the onslaught but refused medical help, he would be wounded a third time but continued to direct his men in the defeating and repelling of the enemy attack.

“Lt. Col. Rogers, with complete disregard for his safety, moved through the hail of fragments from bursting enemy rounds to the embattled area. He aggressively rallied the dazed artillery crewmen to man their howitzers and he directed their fire on the assaulting enemy.

One of the men whose life was saved due to Rogers’ actions in 1968 near the Cambodia border in South Vietnam is Lawton’s J.P. Richard.

“Were it not for … Lt. Col. Rogers, he said, “we’d have all been killed.”

When he learned about the removal, Richard got in touch with retired Lt. General Ronald L. Watts, the 47th commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division in which they served, “The Big Red One.” Watts is the current president of the Society of the 1st Infantry Division.

“He was kind of shocked, shared it with the division commander,” he said. “He went up the food chain to the Pentagon and he’s looking into it aggressively.”

Richard said the members of the “Big Red One” who served under Rogers are growing fewer. They have to stand stronger together to keep the tradition and legacy alive.

“I’m one of the few left,” he said. “Of the ones who meet, come to reunions, stay connected, there were about 25 or 30 in 2018 and we’re down to about 14 or 15 now.”

The story has picked up steam and has been reported in The Guardian, Newsweek and Military Times.

On Monday, Rogers’ story was returned to the DoD page.

The removal is likely to have been part of an executive order issued by President Donald Trump to remove DEI-related issues across the spectrum of the federal government.

Richard believes it was the result of a purge undertaken without nuance. He said he and others that served with Rogers are “incensed.”

It sounds to me like … the Pentagon, probably some energetic young guy is using some form of AI to go through and do what the new Sec Def (Secretary of Defense) has insisted on, getting rid of the DEI,” he said. I think it’s misinterpreting things.”

An unidentified DoD official told Military.com the story had been removed during the “auto removal process.”

Rogers’ story isn’t the only casualty of the DEI purge. Numerous photos, articles and online content has been scrubbed from DoD websites featuring veterans who are minorities, women and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

The Tuskegee Airmen, Women Air Force Service Pilots, Ira Hamilton Hayes, the Native American Marine who was pictured raising the flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima and the Code Talkers are among those whose legacies have been affected. A photo of the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb, “Little Boy,” on Hiroshima, Japan, has also been flagged for removal as had been an article about Jackie Robinson who crossed the color barrier to become the first Black player in Major League Baseball in a series called “Sports Heroes Who Served.”

In a statement released Wednesday by Pentagon Press Secretary John Ullyot said the Pentagon is “pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEl content from all platforms. 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.”

During his lifetime, Rogers said in interviews that he’d spent his career challenging discrimination in the Army.

In a 1975 interview with the Newport News Daily Press an cited by Military.com, Rogers noted the Defense Department continued to house institutional racism, even if inadvertent or deliberate.

“We’re never going to eliminate racism in the Army,” he said. “As long as we do everything to reduce it, we’re making some legitimate progress.”