Hegseth staff damaged Eisenhower-associated globe during Pentagon move

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s staff damaged a globe associated with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower during an attempted move inside the Pentagon in February, NBC News reported on October 22. The Pentagon acknowledged the accident but called the object a replica. NBC said three U.S. officials and a photograph established that the damaged globe was the original used by Eisenhower during World War II.

How the Pentagon globe was damaged

Hegseth wanted the globe, which was mounted in a wooden frame, moved from a senior Army office to his own office, the three officials told NBC. Staff from his office tried to move it themselves instead of waiting for Army historians or the U.S. Army Center of Military History, NBC reported. They dropped it, making a hole in its lower portion and damaging another area.

Why the globe’s identity is disputed

The globe was one of at least two used by Eisenhower, according to the officials cited by NBC. They said it bore green pen or marker notations showing areas he marked in Europe during World War II. NBC reported that the U.S. Army Center of Military History catalogs and keeps the artifact, which was displayed at the Pentagon.

A Pentagon official told NBC the staff were transporting a replica and said the damaged globe was being repaired. The official called the damage an accident and said no one was hurt. NBC disputed the replica description, saying it had checked the globe’s identity with the three officials and a photograph.

Snopes said a Defense Department official confirmed the accuracy of the Post’s account in an email while repeating the Pentagon’s description of the object as a replica. The Army referred Snopes’ request for comment to the Pentagon. The differing accounts leave the identity of the damaged globe contested between the Pentagon and NBC’s independently reported identification.