When Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the cancellation of any official observance of “cultural awareness” months in the military service, I wondered what it would mean for the legacy of Milton Olive.

In case you didn’t know, Milton Lee Olive III was the first black American soldier to receive the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War.

Sadly, he did not live long enough to receive it in person.

He was 18 years old on Oct. 22, 1965, when he and four others, including his platoon commander, were pursuing a band of Viet Cong through thick, tangled growth near Saigon, running into varying degrees of enemy fire.

“As the platoon pursued the insurgents” through the jungle together, according to Olive’s citation, “an enemy grenade was thrown into their midst. Pfc. Olive saw the grenade, and then saved the lives of his fellow soldiers at the sacrifice of his by grabbing the grenade in his hand and falling on it to absorb the blast with his body.”

The citation continued, “Pfc. Olive’s extraordinary heroism, at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.”

On April 21, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented the Medal of Honor to his father.

Later that year, Mayor Richard J. Daley led the unveiling along with Olive’s parents of a monument in his honor at the newly renamed Olive Park, near Navy Pier.

When I moved to Chicago in 1969, fresh out of college and still draft eligible, Olive’s sacrifice in the controversial war was still being talked about and widely honored.

When my draft board caught up with me, I vividly recall, I had Milton Olive on my mind and drew some spiritual strength from my desire to do his memory proud.

As it happened, I never went to Vietnam, but I also never forgot Milton Olive or the split-second decision he made to give his life so his battle buddies could live.

Now, more than ever, it is important to remember men and women like Milton Olive, and indeed to memorialize them, as President Donald Trump and his white nationalist movement wage war on diversity, equity and inclusion.

Earlier this year, in his zeal to root out everything “woke” in the military, Hegseth directed the Department of War to purge the department’s website of mentions of historically significant American fighters, including the Navajo code talkers, the Tuskegee Airmen and many Medal of Honor recipients simply because they were members of minorities.

Also at Hegseth’s orders, out went Black History Month in February, Women’s History Month in March, Pride Month in June and National Hispanic Heritage Month, which takes place from mid-September until mid-October.

Interestingly, Sig Christenson, an investigative reporter at the San Antonio Express-News noted, couldn’t find anyone who had a clear reason for why these observances had to 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 celebrate St. Patrick by turning the Chicago River green for the big parade day. I’ve also recently discovered, thanks to 23&Me, that I’m genetically about 19% Irish. As John Mellencamp sang, “Ain’t that America?”

Such is the nature of our diversity, which I like to think is a feature, not a bug, of America’s melting pot.

A fellow veteran who says he agrees is C. Douglas Sterner, who has published about a dozen books on decorated military heroes and who operates the Home of Heroes website, which documents the stories of Medal of Honor recipients.

“Saddened deeply” by the DoD’s scrubbing of our “women and ethnic minority heroes” earlier this year, Sterner collaborated on a new book titled “Beyond Woke: The Diversity of U.S. Military Heroes.”

The cover art depicts Milton OIive in the act of saving his fellow GIs, ending his own life but living on, I hope, in the memories of our grateful nation.