Women veterans from the Civil War, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War are not exempt from Defense Department’s sweep of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts within the U.S. military. These breakthrough stories of women in combat are the latest prey of the Pentagon’s effort to scrub its servers of what the Trump administration has called “discrimination programs.”
In January 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at the departments of Defense and Homeland Security titled “Restoring America’s Fighting Force,” which removed DEI offices from the uniformed services. That order came just days after another order that forced the military to remove anything related to any kind of diversity effort.
The days that followed saw some surprising erasures from DoD websites, including Medal of Honor recipients Pfc. Harold Gonsalves and Maj. Gen. Charles C. Rogers. For a time, the Army website honoring the famed all-Japanese 442nd Regimental Combat Team from World War II, the service’s most decorated unit, was also scrubbed (it has since been restored following a public outcry).
Related: Highest-Ranking Black Medal of Honor Recipient Erased in Pentagon DEI Purge
The U.S. military has long been a cultural and political leader in recognizing civil rights, irrespective of race, gender or orientation, lauded for removing restrictions on each years before the rest of the United States. It has also been a leader in celebrating its multicultural heritage and recognizing important firsts. The Trump administration’s anti-DEI efforts appear to have forced the DoD to systematically remove those recognitions despite any heroism inherent in these military stories. Women’s history is just the latest casualty.
Civil War Nurses
A 2024 DoD News article from writer Katie Lange told the story of 23 female nurses who served on the front lines of the Civil War who are now interred at Arlington National Cemetery. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Congress authorized the Army to hire female nurses at a time when nursing was a male-dominated profession. Women began volunteering in both official and non-official capacities. Some worked for the duration of the war and even drew veterans pensions in the decades that followed.
Anna Platt worked at the 1,000-bed war hospital in Washington’s Armory Square, working day and night to care for the wounded. Adelaide Spurgeon worked in the one hospital for smallpox patients, risking her life to comfort them. Caroline Burghardt worked on the front lines, including the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg. Sarah E. Thompson was caught behind enemy lines and led Union troops back to capture a rebel general.
Though removed from Defense Department servers and its URL changed to label it as “DEI”, the DoD story of Arlington National Cemetery’s Civil War women has been syndicated elsewhere and can still be found on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
The First Woman to Command the USS Constitution
The USS Constitution, first launched in 1797, is the oldest commissioned warship still afloat and the only current U.S. Navy ship to have sunk an enemy warship in combat. Every year, more than 500,000 tourists still visit the Constitution to see the old girl and watch the old-timey traditions of their Navy. To command the 44-gun frigate is a big deal and when Cmdr. Billie Farrell took command as the first woman to hold the position, it was an even bigger deal.
Farrell had served aboard more modern ships, of course. She was on guided-missile cruisers USS Vella Gulf, USS San Jacinto and USS Vicksburg before taking command of Old Ironsides. Katie Lange wrote about the historic command for a DoD News’ “Making History” feature on March 25, 2022, but the story is now taken down, its URL also labeled “DEI.” It can also be found syndicated and on the Wayback Machine.
All-Women Veterans Honor Flight
On Oct. 6, 2021, Operation HerStory and Honor Flight Chicago flew 93 women veterans from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War to visit Washington, D.C., and see their respective war memorials, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and other important sites.
“In my 99 years, I have never been so overtaken with emotion,” said Bette Horstman, a World War II Army veteran who served as a medical officer on Midway Island and other parts of the Pacific Campaign. “You have a camaraderie; you share something that the average neighbor doesn’t have. We all went through similar experiences.”
The veterans and the 200 volunteers who helped them on this once-in-a-lifetime event made national news, but the Department of Defense has labeled it “DEI” and erased writer Crista Mary Mack’s story from its archives. Luckily, nothing on the internet ever truly goes away and the DoD News story is saved on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
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