1. United States
2. Fla.
3. Letter

As a proud veteran who served this nation with honor, I am writing to express my profound disgust and anger over the recent decision to scrub Arlington National Cemetery’s website of pages honoring Black, Hispanic, and female service members, as well as Medal of Honor recipients. According to Task & Purpose, this was done to comply with orders from President Trump and Secretary of Defense Hegseth targeting race and gender-related language in the military. This is an outrage—an insult to every soldier, sailor, airman, and Marine who sacrificed for this country, regardless of their background. Arlington is sacred ground, a place where over 400,000 heroes rest, their stories etched in stone and memory. To erase the histories of those who broke barriers—Black troops who fought in segregated units, Hispanic soldiers who bled for freedom, women who defied odds to serve—is to diminish their legacy and mine. I didn’t risk my life for a nation that buries the truth about its warriors under political edicts. This isn’t about “DEI” buzzwords; it’s about respect for those who earned it with their blood. The article notes that maps of Marine Corps veterans’ graves and educational materials are gone too, all to appease a directive that reeks of cowardice. Who decided that honoring diversity in service is a threat? Not the troops I served with—we valued every comrade who had our backs. This move spits on that bond. I demand you act to restore these pages and ensure Arlington remains a tribute to all who served, not a sanitized relic of someone’s agenda. As my representative, you owe it to me and every veteran to fight this disgrace. Silence is complicity.