By the Arkansas Black Vitality Staff

April 19, 2025 – One of the untold stories of American and Black History is the contributions of Black veterans toward winning the European and Pacific theaters during World War II. In recent weeks, Tyler Perry’s Six Triple Eight drama on Netflix, which highlights the all-female and all-Black 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, has reignited conversations about how Black veterans were mistreated during WWII.

Under the current Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Trump administration has again aggressively sought to erase that same history by eliminating all mention of Black history and contributions by Black military veterans under the president’s broad mandate to remove all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policy, positions and programs across the federal government.

On January 20, 2025, the President signed executive orders that revoked earlier 2021 executive orders expanding diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in executive branch agencies and directed the termination of all DEI programs, mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the federal government

On Friday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office released a 42-page report stating the Pentagon had abolished 32 DEI positions and restructured 115 positions to reduce or eliminate the positions’ DEI duties. Another 41 military and civilian positions at the DoD were also abolished or eliminated under the president’s executive order.

“Therefore, none of the DEI positions that we identified were scheduled to remain after April 2025,” the report stated.

And although Hegseth is the least qualified DoD Secretary in U.S. history, he has pledged to prioritize merit-based hiring and promotion in the military and purge DEI from the military. Hegseth’s only qualifications to serve as DoD secretary are a brief stint as a former Arkansas National Guard Officer with very little command responsibility during brief deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Before the U.S. Senate approved him as DoD Secretary, he was a rabid and vocal Trump supporter as a Fox News contributor.

Over the last few weeks, Black history supporters have noted that the DoD has removed several stories, photos, and profiles of many Black veterans who have served dutifully in the military, including former Secretary of State Colin Powell, baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, and former Medal of Honor recipient Army Maj. General Charles Calvin Brown.

Hegseth, ironically, replaced Lloyd Austin III as DoD chief. Austin is a retired four-star U.S. Army General and the first Black secretary of defense under President Joe Biden. holds the unique distinction of having commanded in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan at the one-, two-, three- and four-star levels, and was the first African American to command a division, corps, and field army in combat. He is a recipient of the Silver Star, the nation’s third highest award for valor, for his actions during the Iraq invasion, as well as five Defense Distinguished Service Medals

As part of his pledge to erase DEI from the military, President Trump also fired four-star Air Force Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest post in the U.S. armed forces and the chief military advisor to the president. Brown, whose nomination was held up for several months in the U.S. Senate, had previously emphasized diversity programs and spoke out personally about his treatment in the military as a Black officer following the George Floyd riots.

Among many top assignments and roles, Gen. Brown has commanded a fighter squadron, the U.S. Air Force Weapons School, two fighter wings, and twice served as a Combined/Joint Air Component Commander with command tours at U.S. Air Forces Central Command and Pacific Air Forces.

In our efforts to highlight the many contributions of Black Americans to our nation’s legacy, during a time when state and federal lawmakers are seeking to erase that same history by branding it as divisive and discriminatory, Arkansas Black Vitality will highlight untold and missing stories of our Black heroes each week.

Beginning this month through the D-Day anniversary on June 6, Arkansas Black Vitality will share important stories about our Black military veterans during WWII. Our first story in this series is below.