It's no secret that President Donald Trump isn't a fan of diversity, equity, and inclusion, with the POTUS' second term seeing him go on a rampage against DEI initiatives. This comes under the veil of trying to save money as part of the Department of Government Efficiency's purge of federal spending, but for others, it's something more.
There's already been a rollout of anti-DEI mandates, with Meta slashing jobs and NASA seemingly removing mentions of landing the first woman and person of color on the Moon. This all falls under Trump's "Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing" executive order that was signed on his first day in office.
Now, the bizarre DEI purge has seen the Department of Defense target thousands of pictures in a Pentagon archive. The Associated Press warned that some 26,000 images have been flagged for deletion, with some apparently for having the word 'gay' associated with them.
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Among the strangest references set to be scrubbed from existence includes a World War II Medal of Honor recipient aircraft known as the Enola Gay. The plane is remembered for dropping the 'Little Boy' atomic bomb on Hiroshima and was named after the mother of pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets.
The AP says that US officials confirmed the purge, and while 26,000 is the reported number, it could actually be much higher.
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Elsewhere on the DEI hit list are several photos of an Army Corps of Engineers dredging project in California, seemingly because one of those featured had the surname 'Gay'. Another photo of Army Corps biologists was given the boot because it mentions recording data on the gender of fish.
Across the board, the purge took aim at women and minorities who are remembered for military milestones.
There's already been some backlash, and while photos of the Tuskegee Airmen who served as the first Black military pilots in WWII were originally pulled, it was referred to as 'malicious compliance' and the Air Force quickly restored them amid calls for them to be protected due to historical content.
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When asked about the cull, Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot said: "We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms. In the rare cases that content is removed that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct components accordingly."
He concluded by reiterating that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said DEI is 'dead'.
The AP says that it's unclear why images titled "Deadlift contenders raise the bar pound by pound” and a National Guard website image named “Minnesota brothers reunite in Kuwait" were pulled, whereas ones of U.S. Air Force Col. Jeannie Leavitt being the first female fighter pilot were kept.
Namely, the fact that 'Gay' names are being scrubbed suggest there's general confusion on what Trump's executive order covers.
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As for the Enola Gay, NBC4 reports that Tibbets' granddaughter is in 'disbelief' at the images being removed. Kia Tibbets said: "My grandfather was proud to serve his country and serve all Americans.
"I know that he would be very upset, in a time when a lot of people were naming planes after other things you know, he chose to honor his mother, whom he respected and loved very, very much. You know, she gave him the opportunity to be a pilot.”