March 19 (UPI) -- An article about baseball icon Jackie Robinson's military history was "mistakenly removed" from the Department of Defense website due to search terms used to scrub diversity, equity and inclusion terms, officials said.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Pentagon said that in "rare cases," it may have deliberately or mistakenly removed some webpages, according to a statement from press secretary John Ullyot.
It wasn't clear what terms in the Robinson story led to its removal. The page was showing a 404 error before it was restored.
"Everyone at the Defense Department loves Jackie Robinson," Ullyot said.
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Ullyot said DOD salutes many of these military heroes and does "not view or highlight them through the prism of immutable characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, or sex," according to the statement.
"We do so only by recognizing their patriotism and dedication to the warfighting mission like every other American who has worn the uniform."
Besides the Robinson information, the official said other content will be republished, including the Tuskegee Airmen, the Enola Gay, the Navajo Code Talkers, history-making female fighter pilots and the Marines at Iwo Jima. Enola Gay was the name of a B-29 Superfortress bomber.
"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," Ullyot said.
An Air Force web page honoring Colin Powell, which was headlined "First Black Joint Chiefs chairman also was the youngest," is a deactivated URL that has been changed to include the term "DEI."
"We were surprised to learn that a page on the Department of Defense's website featuring Jackie Robinson among sports heroes who served in the military was taken down," David Robinson, the son of Jackie and Rachel Robins, said in a statement obtained by UPI.
"We take great pride in Jackie Robinson's service to our country as a soldier and a sports hero, an icon whose courage, talent, strength of character and dedication contributed greatly to leveling the playing field not only in professional sports but throughout society.
"He worked tirelessly on behalf of equal opportunities, in education, business, civic engagement, and within the justice system," he added. "A recipient of both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, he of course is an American hero."
The MLB didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Jan. 31 issued a statement titled: "Identity Months Dead at DoD." He wrote: "Our unity and purpose are instrumental to meeting the Department's warfighting mission. Efforts to divide the force -- to put one group ahead of another -- erode camaraderie and threaten mission execution."
Earlier Wednesday, Ullyot told UPI: "As Secretary Hegseth has said, DEI is dead at the Defense Department."
"Discriminatory equity ideology is a form of woke cultural Marxism that has no place in our military," Ullyot said. "It divides the force, erodes unit cohesion and interferes with the services' core war-fighting mission.
"We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms. 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 accordingly."
The article, titled "Sports Heroes Who Served: Baseball Great Jackie Robinson was WWII Soldier," was initially published Feb. 9, 2021. When it was removed, it could still be read through archive services.
Robinson in baseball, military
Robinson broke MLB's color barrier when he suited up for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. He is among the most revered athletes in the history of sports and celebrated annually April 15, with MLB players sporting his iconic No. 42.
Robinson, who died in 1972 from heart disease at age 53, was drafted and assigned to a segregated Army calvary unit in 1942 in Fort Riley, Kansas, during World War II. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1943. Robinson later joined the 761st "Black Panthers" tank battalion at Fort Hood, Texas.
According to an account from the inactive Department of Defensive webpage, Robinson boarded an Army bus in July 1944 and the driver ordered him to "move to the back of the bus, but Robinson refused."
"The driver called the military police, who took Robinson into custody," the article said. "He was subsequently court-martialed, but he was acquitted."
Robison was later transferred to Camp Breckinridge, Ky. He served as a coach for Army athletics until he was honorably discharged in November of 1944.
Robinson started playing for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues in 1945. He made his MLB debut two years later.
President Donald Trump announced last month that he planned to honor Robinson and other Black historical figures with statues in a National Garden of American Heroes.
Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King Jr., in addition to Robinson and other athletes, will be among those honored in the garden.
"We're going to produce some of the most beautiful works of art in the form of a statue for men like Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Jackie Robinson -- what a great athlete he was -- Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, and the late Kobe Bryant," Trump said.
