Was Record of Heroic Nurse Wiped from Defense Department Archives?

Among President Donald Trump’s early executive actions in his second term was an order titled “Restoring America’s Fighting Force,” which called for the secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to “abolish every DEI office” within their departments, referring to diversity, equity and inclusion programs based on “race and sex preferences within the Armed Forces.”

In the weeks that followed Trump’s order, and a subsequent memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calling for a “digital content refresh,” the Department of Defense deleted websites and social media pages that highlighted the historic roles of women and some ethnic and racial groups in the military.

The angry blowback from military families, lawmakers and the public in general led to the Defense Department’s reassessment and restoration of some, but not all, of the content. A page about baseball star Jackie Robinson’s military experience was restored, but content about other Black players talking about their military service was deleted, NBC News reported.

Ripples of distrust following the digital purge continue, including an unfounded claim circulating on social media regarding a heroic World War II nurse. We received numerous emails asking about the claim, including one reader who said: “I recently saw a social media post claiming that President Trump called WWII Veteran Ruby Bradley a ‘loser’ for being captured and ‘woke’. Additionally, it claimed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is wiping her military records. Is this true?”

We found no evidence for such claims. We could find no record of Trump referring to Bradley in his social media posts or public remarks. And a Pentagon spokesperson told us in an email, “nothing deleted and/or taken offline related to Ruby Bradley. Also confirmed that we have not received any guidance requiring the removal of content featuring Ruby Bradley. Looks like the rumor is just that.”

In fact, we found a U.S. Army page devoted to women in the Army Medical Department, which included a spotlight on the heroic actions of Bradley, who was taken prisoner by the Japanese in the Philippines during World War II, and returned to combat duty during the Korean War.

According to that webpage, “Maj. Ruby Bradley would remain in service after the war and find herself in combat again in Korea as chief nurse for the 171st Evacuation Hospital. At the end of November 1950, the 171st was ordered to evacuate its patients and withdraw from Pyongyang where it was located. The overall evacuation of Eighth Army from North Korea outpaced the 171st’s ability to clear its area. Bradley was ordered to leave but remained with her patients until all were evacuated. As she boarded a plane to depart the area an enemy shell destroyed the ambulance she had been using to ferry patients to the airfield. Bradley demonstrated bravery under fire in two wars, and by the time she retired from the service in 1963 she had received 34 medals and citations for bravery and was reportedly the most decorated woman in the military.”

Bradley was promoted to colonel before she retired from the military. She died in 2002 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The reference in the social media posts to Trump calling prisoners of war “losers” harks back to comments he made as a presidential candidate in 2015. Speaking about Sen. John McCain, who was held captive for over five years during the Vietnam War, Trump said that McCain “was a war hero because he was captured. … I like people who weren’t captured.”

“He lost and let us down,” Trump also said, referring to McCain’s failure to win the presidential race in 2008. “I don’t like losers,” Trump said.

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-- By John James

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