Was Gen. Colin Powell’s Name Removed From The Arlington Cemetery Website? Here’s The Latest

Notes underneath social media posts show that Powell is still on the website under the 'Politics & Government' section.

Rumors on social media sparked claims that Gen. Colin Powell’s name was removed from the Arlington National Cemetery’s website—but is it true?

An X user, @cturnbull1968, pushed rumors that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth led efforts to have Powell and names of other Black and female historical military figures from a list of notable members.

“Pete Hegseth removed Colin Powell’s name from a list of notable Americans, buried at Arlington National Cemetery,” he wrote. “Hegseth also removed the names of every person of color and every woman on the same list. Only white men were left in place.”

Pete Hegseth removed Colin Powell’s name from a list of notable Americans, buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Hegseth also removed the names of every person of color and every woman on the same list. Only white men were left in place. pic.twitter.com/FZlv8gdUS9
— Carlos Turnbull (@cturnbull1968) March 20, 2025

Another account, @disavowtrump20, followed with the same claim. But notes underneath both posts show that Powell is still on the website under the “Politics & Government” section: Move down the list of former Secretaries of State, Powell was the first African-American to hold office under George W. Bush’s administration, his name is seen.

Arlington’s chief of public affairs, Kerry L. Meeker, called the claims “inaccurate,” saying in a statement to Snopes that “all notable graves are represented on our website—including Colin Powell.” She referred to a statement on the cemetery’s website highlighting that “no service members have been permanently removed from the ‘notable graves’ section of our website.”

However, there are other notable Black military leaders who were seemingly scrubbed from the site as President Donald Trump and cabinet members work to eliminate DEI via an executive order. These include Doris Miller, the first Black sailor to receive the Navy Cross, according to NBC News.

After removing pages featuring figures such as Jackie Robinson and the Tuskegee Airmen caused backlash, the pages were reinstated. However, people like Tennessee high school world history teacher Hadley DiForti said the removals had her students—and her—feeling “significantly upset.”

“I was extremely angry,” DiForti said, highlighting how she used to rely on .gov websites because she could trust them. “I’ve taught about (Miller) now for four years in a row, and kids really do like learning about him.”

Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot boasted in early March that “DEI is dead at the Defense Department” and the department is proud of the “rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms.” He labeled content removal as “rare” but when it does happen “deliberately or by mistake that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the components, and they correct the content accordingly.”