The Biden administration spent four years attacking American history and traditions.
They removed monuments, renamed military bases, and tried to erase our past.
But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just reversed one Biden decision that left the woke mob fuming.
Hegseth announces return of historic Civil War memorial
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made an announcement Tuesday that sent a clear message about the Trump administration’s respect for American history.
The Civil War monument that Joe Biden’s Pentagon removed from Arlington National Cemetery in December 2023 will be restored to its rightful place.
"I’m proud to announce that Moses Ezekiel’s beautiful and historic sculpture – often referred to as ‘The Reconciliation Monument’ – will be rightfully be returned to Arlington National Cemetery near his burial site," Hegseth posted on X.¹
The Defense Secretary didn’t mince words about why the monument was removed in the first place.
"It never should have been taken down by woke lemmings," Hegseth stated. "Unlike the Left, we don’t believe in erasing American history – we honor it."²
The monument, also known as the Confederate Memorial, was first erected in 1914 in a section of Arlington where around 400 Confederate soldiers were buried.
Biden’s woke Pentagon bureaucrats decided the monument had to go because of its links to the Confederacy.
But there’s much more to this story than the Left wanted Americans to know.
The real history behind the monument they tried to erase
The monument wasn’t some celebration of slavery or rebellion – it was about healing a divided nation.
Secretary of War William Howard Taft, who would later become President, approved plans for the memorial in 1906.³
The sculptor was Moses Ezekiel, a prominent Jewish American artist who actually fought for Virginia during the Civil War.
Here’s what makes this even more powerful – Ezekiel is buried at Arlington National Cemetery himself.
The monument features 14 shields representing the 11 Confederate states plus the border states of Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri that were torn between North and South.
But the most important detail is what the monument actually represents.
It references Isaiah 2:4, the Biblical passage about turning "swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks" – a message of reconciliation for a nation that lost 600,000 Americans in the Civil War.⁴
Presidents from both parties, including Barack Obama, sent flowers to this monument on Memorial Day for over a century.
Until Joe Biden decided it was suddenly offensive.
Virginia Governor helps bring the monument home
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin worked with Secretary Hegseth to make this restoration happen.
"At the request of Moses Ezekiel’s family and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Moses Ezekiel’s sculpture will be returned to Arlington National Cemetery, where he is buried and where his legacy as a renowned American artist and decorated veteran can be honored," Youngkin told The Blaze’s Beltway Brief.⁵
The monument will be refurbished and back on display at Arlington by 2027.
For the past year and a half, this piece of American history sat in a Defense Department storage facility in Virginia like some kind of contraband.
That’s what four years of woke leadership did to our military – they treated monuments honoring reconciliation like toxic waste.
Trump administration sends clear message about American history
This isn’t just about one monument – it’s about how we treat our history as Americans.
The Biden administration spent four years trying to erase anything that didn’t fit their woke narrative about America being fundamentally racist.
They removed monuments, renamed military bases named after Confederate generals, and treated any acknowledgment of the Confederacy as hate speech.
But the Trump administration is taking the opposite approach.
The announcement comes after the National Park Service said Monday it would return the statue of former Confederate General Albert Pike to Washington, D.C.⁶
That statue was torn down during the 2020 riots and never restored under Biden.
Now it’s going back up too.
Secretary Hegseth is making it clear that we don’t erase history in America – we learn from it.
The Reconciliation Monument wasn’t celebrating the Confederacy – it was celebrating the healing of our nation after our bloodiest war.
Moses Ezekiel, a Jewish American veteran who fought in that war, created something beautiful about turning away from violence toward peace.
And Joe Biden’s Pentagon threw it in storage because it made woke bureaucrats uncomfortable.
The contrast couldn’t be more clear between an administration that honors American history and one that tries to erase it.
This is what happens when we have real leadership again instead of politicians who bow to every woke mob demand.
Secretary Hegseth is showing that the Trump administration won’t apologize for American history – they’ll honor the complexity and ultimate triumph of our story.
¹ Pete Hegseth, Post on X, August 6, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ The Blaze, "Civil War Monument Removed by Biden Will Return to Arlington Cemetery," August 6, 2025.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
