US defense department criticized after Black man who won Medal of Honor removed from website following Trump's diversity order

The US Department of Defense was hit with widespread backlash after a page detailing the achievements of Army Maj. Gen. Charles Calvin Rogers, a Black man who served in Vietnam, was temporarily removed from its website.

The page dedicated to Rogers has now been reinstated, seemingly to its original form, however, not before internet users caught sight of significant changes to the page.

News of the deleted entry came to light on Saturday (March 15), when the link which previously led to information about the veteran instead led to a '404' error message.

Screenshots of the website taken over the weekend showed the error message on display, as well as the Google listing for Rogers, which previously described him as a veteran who 'served through it all'.

"As a Black man, he worked for gender and race equality while in the service," the page added, before it was removed.

The removal of the page wasn't the only significant change internet users noticed while looking for Rogers' information - people have also pointed out that the URL on his entry was also changed.

Where previously the URL simply read 'medal', it was updated to read 'deimedal'.

The update apparently suggests that the medal was related to a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) scheme of the type that Donald Trump has been cracking down on since his return to office.

One order from the White House, issued the day after Trump's inauguration, reads: "It is the policy of the United States to protect the civil rights of all Americans and to promote individual initiative, excellence, and hard work.

"I therefore order all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements."

After Rogers' website was removed, the Department of Defense was hit with widespread backlash from internet users who described the changes as 'blood-boiling'.

One Twitter user wrote: "This is infuriating. Charles Rogers is a Black Medal of Honor recipient following his heroic actions in Vietnam. The Department of Defense has just taken down his website and has relabeled the URL as "deimedal-of-honor." DEI. This is an insult to this veteran's legacy."

As of March 17, the website detailing Rogers' achievements is now live, with no sign of 'dei' in the URL.

The page explains that it was Rogers' leadership during an intense battle in Vietnam which earned him the Medal of Honor.

The veteran is described as having run 'through a hail of exploding shells to rally his dazed crewmen', leading soldiers even when he was hit by an exploding round.

"Rogers was again wounded during that foray, but he continued fighting, killing several enemy soldiers and driving the rest back," the site explains.

"Rogers refused medical attention and instead worked to get the defensive perimeter set back up."

Rogers received his Medal of Honor from President Nixon on May 14, 1970.

UNILAD has reached out to the Department of Defense for comment.