Pete Hegseth’s war on ‘woke’ an assault on history
When Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the cancellation of any official celebration of “cultural awareness” months within the military service, I immediately wondered what that would mean for the legacy of Milton Olive III.
In case you didn’t know, Olive was the first black American soldier to receive the Medal of Honor for his service in the Vietnam War.
Unfortunately, he did not live long enough to receive it in person.
He was 18 years old on October 22, 1965, when he and four others, including his platoon commander, pursued a band of Viet Cong through thick, tangled vegetation near Saigon, encountering varying degrees of enemy fire.
“As the platoon pursued the insurgents” through the jungle together, according to Olive’s quote, “an enemy grenade was thrown into their midst. Pfc. Olive saw the grenade, then saved the lives of her comrades at the sacrifice of her own by grabbing the grenade in her hand and falling on it to absorb the blast with her body.”
The citation continues: “Private Olive’s extraordinary heroism, at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, is in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Army and reflects great credit upon himself and upon the armed forces of his country.”
On April 21, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented the Medal of Honor to his father and stepmother.
Later that year, Mayor Richard J. Daley led the unveiling with Olive’s parents of a monument in her honor at the new name of Olive Park, near Navy Pier.
When I moved to Chicago in 1969, fresh out of college and still eligible for military service, Olive’s sacrifice in that controversial war was still widely talked about and widely honored.
When my selection committee caught up with me, I remember it vividly, I had Olive in mind and I drew some spiritual strength from my desire to make her memory proud.
I actually never went to Vietnam, but I also never forgot Olive or the split-second decision he made to give his life so his fellow soldiers could live.
Now more than ever, it is important to remember, and even memorialize, men and women like Olive as President Donald Trump and his movement wage war on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Earlier this year, in his zeal to eradicate anything “woke” in the military, Hegseth ordered the Department of Defense to purge the department’s website of mentions of historically significant American warfighters, including the Navajo Code Talkers, the Tuskegee Airmen, and numerous Medal of Honor recipients simply because they were minorities — and despite their significant contributions to the defense of American freedom.
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Also on Hegseth’s orders is Black History Month in February, Women’s History Month in March, Pride Month in June and National Hispanic Heritage Month, which occurs from mid-September to mid-October.
Interestingly, San Antonio Express-News investigative reporter Sig Christenson found no one with a clear reason as to why these celebrations should be banned or why St. Patrick’s Day remains honored.
Good question. I’m black, but I’m also a product of Chicago culture, and we’re celebrating St. Patrick’s Day by turning the Chicago River green for the big parade day. I also recently discovered, through 23andMe, that I am about 19% genetically Irish. As John Mellencamp sang: “Isn’t this America?”
This is the nature of our diversity, which I like to think of as a feature, not a bug, of the American melting pot.
Another veteran who agrees is C. Douglas Sterner, who has published a dozen books about decorated military heroes and runs the website Home of Heroes, which documents the stories of Medal of Honor recipients, among other heroes.
“Deeply saddened” by the DoD’s removal of our “women and ethnic minority heroes” earlier this year, Sterner collaborated on a new book titled “Beyond Woke: The Diversity of US Military Heroes.”
The cover depicts OIive saving his fellow GIs, ending his own life but living, I hope, in the memory of our grateful nation.
Email Clarence Page at cptimee@gmail.com.
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