A baseball columnist for ESPN harshly criticized the Department of Defense for what appeared to be removing an article about Jackie Robinson’s military service.
Jeff Passan commented about the missing article, titled, “Sports Heroes Who Served: Baseball Great Jackie Robinson Was WWII Soldier” in a scathing post on his X account late Tuesday night.
“This used to be the URL for a story on the @DeptofDefense website about Jackie Robinson’s time in the Army,” Passan posted. “The story has been removed. The ghouls who did this should be ashamed. Jackie Robinson was the embodiment of an American hero. Fix this now.”
The ESPN baseball commentator then posted a link to the article. When one clicks on it, they are greeted with a message that reads “404 — Page Not Found.”
The article is still accessible on an internet archive website.
It is unclear why the story about Robinson’s military service was removed. No one from the DOD appeared to acknowledge or reply to Passan’s post on X.
The removal could stem from the Trump administration’s continued efforts to remove so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the military. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order, “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing,” which sought to remove anything related to DEI from the government.
“The public release of these plans demonstrated immense public waste and shameful discrimination,” Trump’s executive reads. “That ends today. Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect, and to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great.”
Moreover, as noted in Trump’s executive order, anything related to DEI would be “terminated and removed.”
“To carry out this directive, the Director of OPM, with the assistance of the Attorney General as requested, shall review and revise, as appropriate, all existing Federal employment practices, union contracts, and training policies or programs to comply with this order,” reads the directive.
A URL section from the story in question reads “deisports-heroes,” which could be the basis for the removal. It is also uncertain if the removal is permanent or temporary.
Additionally, on Jan. 31, the Department of Defense issued a release in which Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth provided direction for the DEI removal process.
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“Our unity and purpose are instrumental to meeting the Department’s warfighting mission,” Hegseth said. “Efforts to divide the force – to put one group ahead of another – erode camaraderie and threaten mission execution.”
“Installations, units, and offices are encouraged to celebrate the valor and success of military heroes of all races, genders, and backgrounds as we restore our warrior culture and ethos,” Hegseth added. “We are proud of our warriors and their history, but we will focus on the character of their service instead of their immutable characteristics.”
