World War II Database

In Jan 2025, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order in opposition of diversity, equality, and inclusion in American society. Complying to that order, Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth ordered the removal of various pieces of information that the president would deem inappropriate. As the result, photographs and articles on WW2 history were marked for removal from Defense websites and social media. A list of material to be deleted or already deleted included information such as:

• Portuguese-American Marine Harold Gonsalves who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest American military award, for selflessly jumping on a grenade thrown by the enemy, sacrificing himself in order to save two fellow Marines on the island of Okinawa, Japan in 1945.
• African-American Tuskegee airmen, who served with distinction during WW2; 300 Tuskegee airmen who were still alive in 2007 were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the US Congress, the highest honor that the US Congress can bestow.
• Japanese-American soldiers of the US Army 442nd Regimental Combat Team, many of whom volunteered to serve despite being imprisoned in internment camps simply for their ancestry; the unit would go on to become the most decorated unit in US Army history.
• The B-29 Superfortress bomber Enola Gay, famed for having dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan; it is suspected that the bomber was swept up in the administration's anti-equality stance simply due to its name.

For more information on the anti-diversity, anti-equality, and anti-inclusion information purge:
Associated Press: War heroes and military firsts are among 26,000 images flagged for removal in Pentagon's DEI purge
5 notable images flagged in Pentagon's DEI purge
Honolulu Civil Beat: Army Wipes 442nd Combat Unit Off Its Website Amid DEI Purge
Military.com: The Medal of Honor Recipient Erased in the Pentagon's DEI Purge