Trump and the enola gay
Enola Gay pilot's granddaughter decries 'shameful' Trump Defense Department DEI word purge
The granddaughter of Paul W. Tibbets Jr. — the pilot who flew the bomber Enola Gay that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima during World War II — called the Trump administration flagging photos of the plane for removal "shameful" in an interview with The Dispatch.
Kia Tibbets, 49, of Columbus' Clintonville neighborhood, said Tuesday she was shocked and in disbelief when she first heard photos of her grandfather's aircraft had been flagged by the U.S. Department of Defense, apparently only because its label contained the pos "gay."
"It's shameful that a word that harms no one, that means cheerful, could invoke so much hatred," Kia Tibbets said.
The photo flagging came amid the Trump administration's crackdown and removal of what it considers "DEI content" from many government agency and military websites. The knowledge purge includes removing language related to social wellness, racial equity and feminism.
President Donald Trump's administration is also trying to pressure schools and universities that receive public funding to shutter programs that it considers steeped in DEI pri
US military firsts among the 26,000 images flagged for deletion in Trump DEI purge
References to a second world war Medal of Honor recipient, the Enola Gay aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan, and the first women to hand over US marine infantry training are among the tens of thousands of photos and online posts marked for deletion at the Pentagon.
The preparations come as the US defense department works to purge diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) content, according to a database obtained by the Connected Press.
The database, which was confirmed by US officials and published by AP, includes more than 26,000 images that have been flagged for removal across every military branch. But the eventual total could be much higher.
One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not been made universal, said the purge could delete as many as 100,000 images or posts in total, when considering social media pages and other websites that are also being culled for content deemed to be associated to DEI, which the Trump administration has officially turned against. The official said it’s not clear if the database has been finalized.
The US defense secreta
Enola Gay: Huge uproar as WWII bomber suffers Trump's DEI purge for its ‘last’ name
The US military has launched an strive to eradicate content that pertains to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), including images of “Enola Gay,” the B-29 bomber that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945.
They are part of a series of unrelated DEI photos that include been incorrectly identified, including images from a California Army Corps of Engineers mining project, supposedly because one of the engineers in the picture had the last name “Gay.”
What to know about ‘Enola Gay’ and Trump's executive order
The aircraft was named after pilot Colonel Paul Tibbets Jr's mother, Enola Gay Tibbets.
In accordance with President Donald Trump's executive order, the US military will delete thousands of images and posts on social media as part of the DEI purge.
Over 26,000 photos from every unit of the military have been flagged due to the Pentagon's organize to eliminate DEI-related content, but officials say the total number may exceed 100,000 as evaluations continue.
What Pete Hegseth has to say and who are being targeted
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has supported the acti
It’s been nearly two decades, but way back in 2008, a far-right group called the American Family Association operated an online news outlet, which featured a lot of Associated Press articles. But because the AFA had a culture war agenda, the organization would tweak the reports to align with its agenda.
For example, the AFA automatically changed the word “gay” in its articles to “homosexual,” which the group thought sounded more sinister. During the Olympics, however, this became problematic — because of a sprinter named Tyson Gay.
In keeping with the AFA’s publishing policy, readers were treated to headlines such as “Homosexual eases into 100 final at Olympic trials.” One article said, “Homosexual didn’t get off to a particularly strong start in the first semifinal. ... Asked how he felt, Homosexual said: ‘A little fatigued.’”
The lesson from the unintentionally hilarious incident was obvious: It’s best to be hesitant when using the find-and-replace feature.
It’s a lesson some Republicans contain failed to learn.
The Trump administration, for example, has launched a bizarre crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts throughout the federal government, including th