Page honoring Charles C Rogers for his Vietnam war service is now defunct with letters \u2018DEI\u2019 added to website address<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US defense department webpage celebrating an army general who served in the Vietnam war and was awarded the country\u2019s highest military decoration has been removed and the letters \u201cDEI\u201d added to the site\u2019s address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Saturday, US army Maj Gen Charles Calvin Rogers\u2019s Medal of Honor webpage led to a \u201c404\u201d error message. The URL was also changed, with the word \u201cmedal\u201d changed to \u201cdeimedal\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to<\/a> the West Virginia military hall of fame, Rogers was the highest-ranking African American to receive the medal. After his death in 1990, Rogers\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As of Sunday afternoon, a \u201c404 \u2013 Page Not Found\u201d message appeared<\/a> on the defense department\u2019s webpage for Rogers, along with the message: \u201cThe page you are looking for might have been moved, renamed, or may be temporarily unavailable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A screenshot posted<\/a> by the writer Brandon Friedman on Bluesky on Saturday evening showed the Google preview of an entry of Rogers\u2019s profile on the defense department\u2019s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dated 1 November 2021, the entry\u2019s Google preview reads: \u201cMedal of Honor Monday: Army Maj Gen. Charles Calvin Rogers.\u201d Below it are the words: \u201cArmy 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGoogle his name and the entry below comes up. When you click, you\u2019ll see the page has been deleted and the URL changed to include \u2018DEI medal,\u2019\u201d Friedman wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Guardian has asked the defense department for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since taking office in January, Donald Trump<\/a> has moved his administration to roll back DEI \u2013 diversity, equity and inclusion \u2013 efforts across the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One executive order<\/a> sought to terminate all \u201cmandates, policies, programs, preferences and activities in the federal government\u201d, which the Trump administration deems \u201cillegal DEI and \u2018diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility\u2019 (DEIA) programs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a win for the Trump administration on Friday, an appeals court lifted<\/a> a block on executive orders that seek to end the federal government\u2019s support for DEI programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n