The U.S. Department of Defense recently yanked a webpage celebrating Major General Charles C. Rogers, a Black Vietnam War hero who earned the Medal of Honor. People are furious, pointing fingers at the Trump administration’s aggressive campaign to gut Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts across federal agencies. Adding fuel to the fire, the page’s URL now includes “DEI” and leads to a “404” error—a glaring hint, critics say, of the administration’s disdain for anything tied to diversity.

Charles C. Rogers came into the world in 1929, born to a coal miner in Claremont, West Virginia. He rose to become one of the highest-ranking Black officers ever to claim the Medal of Honor, America’s top military prize. Picture this: Vietnam, 1968. Rogers is at Fire Support Base Rita, facing a brutal enemy assault. Shot three times, he doesn’t flinch. Instead, he mans artillery himself and rallies his soldiers to hold off the attack, saving lives in the process. After three decades in uniform, he retired as a major general and found his final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery in 1990. His life wasn’t just about guts—it smashed through racial barriers in a military still wrestling with its segregated past.

On March 16, 2025, word got out: Rogers’ tribute page was gone. The original link—“Medal of Honor Monday: Army Maj Gen. Charles Calvin Rogers”—now takes you to a dead end, a “404” error. Worse, the new URL has “DEI” slapped into it, hinting this wasn’t an accident. It lines up with the Trump administration’s orders to strip out DEI content from government sites, targeting anything that smells like “identity politics.” Rogers’ page, spotlighting his role as a Black hero, seems to have been collateral damage in this crackdown.

Veterans, historians, and civil rights folks are livid. Over on X, the reactions hit hard. “Disgraceful,” one user posted. Another chimed in: “Wiping out a Black hero’s legacy under some fake ‘unity’ banner? Shameful.” Historians argue Rogers’ story isn’t just inspiring—it’s a key piece of the puzzle for understanding how African American soldiers battled both enemies abroad and prejudice at home. The Defense Department’s gone quiet, offering no explanation. Was this deliberate? A glitch? The lack of answers only stokes the anger.

This isn’t a one-off. Since early 2025, the Trump administration has been tearing down DEI programs left and right. Federal agencies are scrubbing anything that nods to race or equity, following orders to ditch “divisive” content. We’ve seen this playbook before—think renaming Confederate-named bases or yanking diversity training. Critics say it’s a pattern that could push away huge chunks of people and unravel years of work to make the military more welcoming. To them, Rogers’ vanishing page is a glaring warning sign.

Veterans’ groups like the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars aren’t sitting still—they want that page back up, no excuses. Lawmakers are jumping in too. Rep. James Carter, a voice on the House Armed Services Committee, called it “a slap in the face to every soldier who’s served” and promised to dig deeper. Meanwhile, advocates aren’t stopping at just restoring the page. They’re demanding the Defense Department prove it’ll honor all veterans, no matter who they are.

Rogers’ tale goes beyond one soldier’s courage. It’s about sacrifice, grit, and the slow crawl toward equality. That Medal of Honor? It’s proof of what someone can achieve against all odds. So when his page disappears, it’s not just a webpage—it’s a question: Who gets to say which heroes matter? And what happens when politics steamrolls over their stories? For now, the people who remember Rogers are fighting to keep his light burning.