What we know about U.S. military’s anti-DEI purge of WWII Enola Gay aircraft photos

In March 2025, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s orders to remove all diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives from federal agencies, The Associated Press reported the Pentagon was purging images from its sites that violated the order. 

In particular, Snopes readers asked us about claims that photos of the World War II aircraft Enola Gay were removed because of the word “gay.”

One social media post making the claim said: “They purged pictures of the Enola Gay from the DOD websites because they thought it had to do with LGBTQ. You can’t make up how dumb they are.”

While some pictures of the Enola Gay aircraft were removed from the U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense website, other photographs remained on the sites, though reports state they were “flagged” for removal. The original source for such a claim was an AP story that relied on anonymous officials to confirm the details. As such, we cannot independently confirm that the AP’s database is entirely correct.

However, a spokesperson for the Air Force confirmed to Snopes that information was removed from its website based on a keyword search as part of its effort to curb DEI. The Air Force did not respond to our query about whether “gay” was one such keyword.

It is possible that any anti-DEI purge would flag the word “gay” in a database and that Enola Gay images were removed for that reason. The Air Force spokesperson said:

In response to President Trump’s Executive Orders and Secretary Hegseth’s priorities, all Military Departments received guidance from the Department of Defense to review and remove DoD news and feature articles, photos, videos, and social media posts that promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  

Some information was removed based on a keyword search. If we validate the content does not meet the EO requirement for removal, we will repost it. Individuals are encouraged to bring content they believe was erroneously removed to Public Affairs’ attention for review.

The spokesperson did not specify what categories or keywords violated the anti-DEI order.

Trump’s executive order criticized how institutions including the federal government have allegedly “adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion'” and required federal agencies to stop hiring on the basis of “race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin.”

Enola Gay was the name of the B-29 aircraft that dropped the world’s first atomic bomb used in war on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II. The pilot handpicked the name, honoring his mother, the night before the mission.

The DOD flagged numerous posts on archival websites for removal on military websites, some of which were already deleted because they violated the administration’s order to stop DEI programming, according to the AP. The AP report included a database that highlighted a number of images of the Enola Gay aircraft, some of which were no longer available on military websites, and others that are still available but “flagged” for removal across all military websites.

Some deletions took place not because of any LGBTQ+ content, but simply due to use of the word “gay.” According to the AP, some Army Corps of Engineers photos were flagged for deletion because one of the engineers had the last name “Gay.”

As of this writing, this image (archived) of the aircraft is still not visible on the Air Force website. Per the AP’s database, the image in question showed U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III touring a bomb pit loading area where the Enola Gay aircraft was loaded with the atomic bomb used on Hiroshima.

But many other photographs on the air force and National Defense University websites (seen here, here, here, and here) still show the Enola Gay aircraft as of this writing.

While the Air Force confirmed it was removing imagery that violated Trump’s order, it did not specify which images and only anonymous officials confirmed the ones that were flagged for removal to the AP. However, based on our examination of military webpages, a few images of Enola Gay have been removed while others remain.

Sources