Navajo Code Talkers Returned to Military Websites

UPDATE Mar 20, 2025 3:00 AM CDT

Some military web pages referencing the Navajo Code Talkers and other Native American veterans were restored Wednesday after tribes condemned their removal as part of the Trump administration's push to remove any and all content it deems DEI-adjacent. "In the rare cases that content is removed—either deliberately or by mistake—that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the components and they correct the content so it recognizes our heroes for their dedicated service alongside their fellow Americans, period," Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot said in a statement. Thousands of other web pages remained offline, including any that referred to Native American Heritage Month, as well as some pages honoring the military service of women and minority groups.

Mar 18, 2025 8:18 AM CDT

The Pentagon's aggressive push to eliminate all content it views as being under the DEI umbrella has resulted in some notable deletions. Axios and the Washington Post report on multiple examples under the directive to purge "diversity, equity, and inclusion" info:

• A page celebrating Pfc. Ira Hayes, one of the Marines famously pictured raising the American flag at Iwo Jima in 1945, has been scrubbed from the Defense Department website. Hayes was a Native American, and the page had praised him as an example of the "contributions and sacrifices Native Americans have made to the United States, not just in the military, but in all walks of life."

• Stories about the famed Navajo Code Talkers are disappearing from various military websites, with Axios reporting that the URLs were amended with the letters "DEI." The outlet found at least 10 such articles mentioning the Native American code-breakers that were scrubbed.
• "As Secretary [Pete] Hegseth has said, DEI is dead at the Defense Department," said Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot in a statement issued to both outlets. "We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms." The statement added that corrections would be made in the "rare cases" in which the deletions go overboard, though he didn't specify examples.