Some of the 26,000 images marked for removal as part of the Pentagon’s DEI purge are tied to Philadelphia

The Philadelphia region is represented among the tens of thousands of images and internet postings marked for removal by the Department of Defense as part of its mandated push to clear content related to diversity, equity, and inclusion from its online footprint.

That’s according to a database of more than 26,000 images earmarked for removal across all branches of the military obtained by the Associated Press. U.S. officials confirmed the authenticity of the database, revealed Thursday, and said the total number of images and posts removed could approach 100,000 as the effort continues.

Across the military’s online presence, targeted images have included references to a World War II Medal of Honor recipient, the first woman to complete Marine infantry training, and the aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan during World War II, the Enola Gay. A majority of images and postings removed or slated to be removed include references to commemorative months, such as Pride Month and Hispanic Heritage Month, and generally feature women and marginalized groups.

The effort comes following executive orders President Donald Trump issued shortly after beginning his second term in January that seek to end federal DEI programs. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, had given military branches a Wednesday deadline to remove DEI-related digital content.

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As part of the purge, about two dozen images referencing Philadelphia, New Jersey, or New Hanover Township’s Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst have been removed from the internet, or are slated for removal.

Primarily, the images referencing Philadelphia involved the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, a local branch of the U.S. Navy’s organization for research, development, testing, and evaluation. The images removed associated with the division include ones referencing celebrations for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Pride Month, as well as one photo that showed a center employee receiving an award from the Asian Pacific American Council.

Also targeted were Defense Logistic Agency photos referencing Pride Month, including three of a local news anchor speaking at a Pride Month event for the agency. The images had been deleted ahead of an Inquirer review of the database, and it was not clear what news personality spoke at the event. Another agency photo of an Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month event was also removed.

In New Jersey, images similarly referencing Pride Month events at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, such as a Pride 5K run, were also removed. Another six images were hosted on the Air National Guard website and concerned the New Jersey National Guard’s landmark role in ending racial segregation in the military.

The New Jersey National Guard officially desegregated in 1948, owing the change to the adoption of a new state constitution the year before that forbade racial discrimination and segregation, according to the state’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Then-Gov. Alfred E. Driscoll issued an order to National Guard officers that army orders disallowing mixed-race units would be ignored, and then that change would be made official in February 1948.

The military at large, meanwhile, would begin prohibiting segregation that July following President Harry Truman’s executive order banning the practice, months after New Jersey’s move.

Some of the targeted content concerns notable events in the military’s history, though in some cases, not because it deals explicitly with DEI efforts. For example, some photos appear to have been flagged for removal simply because their file included the word gay, including service members with that last name and an image of the B-29 aircraft Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II.

Other photos listed in the removal database showed the Tuskegee Airmen, who served as the country’s first Black military pilots in a segregated unit during World War II. However, they could be spared removal because of their historical content.

The Air Force briefly removed new recruit training courses that included videos of the Tuskegee Airmen soon after Trump’s order. That drew the White House’s ire over “malicious compliance,” and the Air Force quickly reversed the removal.

It is unclear why some images have been removed, such as a Marine Corps photo titled “Deadlift contenders raise the bar pound by pound” or a National Guard website image called “Minnesota brothers reunite in Kuwait.” Another photo described in the database as “New Jersey leader” was also removed, but the reason for its purging was not clear.

Other images marked for removal include photos depicting World War II Women Air Service Pilots; the first American female fighter pilot, U.S. Air Force Col. Jeannie Leavitt; and then-Pfc. Christina Fuentes Montenegro, who became one of the first women to graduate from the Marine Corps’ Infantry Training Battalion in 2013. An image of Medal of Honor recipient Pfc. Harold Gonsalves, who was of Portuguese descent, was also removed.

Asked about the database, Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot said in a statement, “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 that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct components accordingly.”

The database of the 26,000 images was created to conform with federal archival laws, so if the services are queried in the future, they can show how they are complying with the law, a U.S. official told the AP. But it may be difficult to ensure the content was archived because the responsibility to ensure each image was preserved was the responsibility of each individual unit.

In many cases, workers are taking screenshots of the pages marked for removal, but it would be difficult to restore them if that decision were made, according to another official, who like the others spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide additional details that were not public.

The timeline for removals was not immediately clear. A Marine Corps official said that the organization was moving on the directive as fast as possible, but as with the rest of the military, very few civilian or contractor employees at the Pentagon can perform content removal.

The deadline for Hegseth’s order, issued late last month, passed Wednesday. If military branches were not able to complete the task by then, the order stipulated, they would “temporarily remove from public display” content put online during the Biden administration.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.