March 25, 2025 Story by: Editor
Medgar Evers, WWII Veteran and Civil Rights icon, was removed from Arlington National Cemetery’s tribute page.
Medgar Evers, a decorated World War II veteran and civil rights leader whom former President Donald Trump hailed as “a great American hero,” has been removed from a section of the Arlington National Cemetery website honoring Black Americans who served in U.S. wars.
The U.S. Army eliminated the tribute page that celebrated Evers, an Army sergeant who was assassinated by a white supremacist in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1963. The removal follows an executive order by Trump to dismantle all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs.
Former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson, who guided Trump during a 2017 tour of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, expressed disbelief over Evers’ removal. “That’s got to be a mistake,” Anderson said. “That involves a great American who served in the military and was one of the most courageous Americans of all time.”
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Evers is not the only veteran erased from the website. Also removed was Army Maj. Gen. Charles Calvin Rogers, a Medal of Honor recipient for his valor in the Vietnam War.
“He got shot three times in Vietnam and survived,” said U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS). “History has not been kind to minorities, whether women, people of color, or religious groups. Part of what we do in the greatest democracy known to man is to correct the record.”
Thompson criticized the Trump administration’s treatment of veterans, citing the firing of 80,000 employees from the Department of Veterans Affairs. “You think it’s hard to get a medical appointment now?” he asked. “You take 80,000 out of that system, and it’s not going to work.”
In 2013, Arlington National Cemetery commemorated the 50th anniversary of Evers’ assassination with a special ceremony attended by bipartisan leaders. Mississippi’s congressional delegation later secured a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom for Evers, which his family accepted last year.
During his 2017 visit to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Trump praised Evers’ legacy. “He fought in Normandy in the Second World War,” Trump said, “and when he came back home to Mississippi, he kept fighting for the same rights and freedom that he had defended in the war. Mr. Evers became a civil rights leader in his community.”
Trump highlighted Evers’ efforts to register Black voters, organize boycotts, and investigate racial injustices before his murder by a Ku Klux Klan member. “Sgt. Evers was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors,” Trump recalled. “In Arlington, he lies beside men and women of all races, backgrounds, and walks of life who have served and sacrificed for our country.”
Calling Evers an inspiration, Trump added, “We want our country to be a place where every child, from every background, can grow up free from fear, innocent of hatred, and surrounded by love, opportunity, and hope.”
Civil War historian Kevin M. Levin, who leads educational tours to Evers’ grave, emphasized the inseparable link between his military service and civil rights activism. “It’s impossible to talk about his accomplishments in civil rights without mentioning World War II,” Levin said. “There’s a straight line from his service to expanding voting rights and desegregating the University of Mississippi law school.”
Levin condemned any effort to downplay this history, stating, “Any attempt to minimize this is being incredibly dishonest.”
Source: Nola
