Arlington National Cemetery is the most regarded final resting ground in the United States, but it has scrubbed the history of Black veterans and more. The cemetery is overseen by silent soldiers in uniforms that watch over hundreds of acres in Virginia and 400,000 graves of U.S. service members dating back to the Civil War. The cemetery includes two presidents and more than 400 Medal of Honor recipients.
But as Task & Purpose
points out, the cemetery has taken down dozens of pages on the grave sites and educational materials that include the history of prominent Black veterans and Hispanic and female service members buried in the cemetery.In an alarming move, links to the public lists of dozens of “Notable Graves” at Arlington that include female, Black, and Hispanic service members buried in the cemetery are now gone. However, the links to the dozen other “Notable Graves” lists remain highlighted on the website. The notable graves include politicians, athletes, and foreign nationals.
The cemetery also scrubbed educational material on dozens of Medal of Honor recipients and maps of prominent grave sites of Marine Corps veterans and other services.
A spokesperson at Arlington National Cemetery — which the Army operates under the Army Office of Cemeteries — confirmed with Task & Purpose that the pages had been unpublished, but the academic modules would be republished after they were “reviewed and updated.”
“The Army has taken immediate steps to comply with all executive orders related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) personnel, programs, and policies,” an Army spokesperson at Arlington told Task & Purpose.
The spokesperson added, “The Army will continue to review its personnel, policies, and programs to ensure it remains in compliance with law and presidential orders. Social media and web pages were removed, archived, or changed to avoid noncompliance with executive orders.”
It remains unclear when the unpublished links will be back on the website.
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