Photos of the Enola Gay World War II bomber, Black military pilots and the country’s first female fighter pilot are among the tens of thousands of images flagged for removal by the Pentagon in an effort to eliminate references to diversity, equity and inclusion.
The Department of Defense is scrapping more than 26,000 photos and posts related to DEI efforts across all military branches — a massive effort that stems from an executive order signed by President Trump on Jan. 20 designed to end “radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing.”
Many of the images and posts, some of which include events celebrating minorities as well as significant milestones achieved by Black, Hispanic and female service members, had been removed as of Friday, according to a database obtained by The Associated Press.
However, the flagging of some images — including one of the historic Enola Gay aircraft, the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan during the final stages of World War II — has raised some questions about the criteria used by the Pentagon.
In one photo flagged for deletion, pilot Col. Paul Tibbets Jr. is seen posing in front of the plane, which was named after his mother, Enola Gay Tibbets.
Images of an Army Corps of Engineers dredging project in California were also flagged for removal, seemingly because a person in the photo had the last name Gay.
Overall, more than 26,000 items have been marked to be removed, according to the AP. However, one unnamed official said that number could reach 100,00 items, when taken into account social media posts and other websites.
A Pentagon spokesperson said the department is happy with the swift compliance.
“We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms,” the spokesperson, John Ullyot, said in a statement. “In rare cases where content is removed outside the directive’s clearly outlined scope, we provide further guidance to the relevant components.”