Yes, in my opinion the 10 Army bases named after Confederate Soldiers should be renamed. Our country is going through a lot of turmoil lately and this is a great way to start healing. Nine of the ten bases were established during World War I and World War II and were named after Confederate Soldiers. The 10th was in Virginia, Fort Lee and was named after General Robert E. Lee during the Civil War. One way to look at this change would be to follow Army Regulation 1-33, The Administration of the Army Memorial Program which postdates the naming of these bases and review them based on that criteria.
Why?
Why were these bases named after Confederates? It was twofold, an effort for reconciliation between the north and the south and to gain Southern support for the bases which required lots of land. The “Lost Cause” a narrative of the southern gentleman fighting for states rights not slavery was becoming more widespread around the late 19th early 20th century and really peaked with the popularity of “Gone with the Wind” both the book and the movie in the 1930s and 40s. This also contributed.
Who?
The Federal Government with input from local leaders chose Confederate soldiers who were in most cases from the states the base would be established. These are the 10 bases and who they were named after (Wikipedia List of U.S. Army Installations Named After Confederate Soldiers):
- Camp Beauregard near Pineville, Louisiana, named for Louisiana native and Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard[3]
- Fort Benning, near Columbus, Georgia, named after Henry L. Benning, a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army[4][5]
- Fort Bragg in North Carolina, named for Confederate General Braxton Bragg
- Fort Gordon near Grovetown, Georgia, named in honor of John Brown Gordon, who was a major general in the Confederate army
- Fort A.P. Hill near Bowling Green, Virginia, named for Virginia native and Confederate Lieutenant General A. P. Hill[6]
- Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, who is best known for commanding the Texas Brigade during the American Civil War
- Fort Lee in Prince George County, Virginia, named for Confederate General Robert E. Lee[7]
- Fort Pickett near Blackstone, Virginia, named for Confederate General George Pickett
- Fort Polk near Leesville, Louisiana, named in honor of the Right Reverend Leonidas Polk, an Episcopal Bishop and Confederate General
- Fort Rucker in Dale County, Alabama, named for Edmund Rucker, a colonel appointed acting brigadier general in November 1864, but whose promotion went unconfirmed by the Confederate Congress (disbanded March 18, 1865)
What is so egregious about this list is so many were just mediocre soldiers and Maj. Gen John Brown Gordon was the head of the Ku Klux Clan in Georgia. On the other hand, many Confederate officers were graduates of West Point and served honorably for the U.S. before joining the Confederate cause during the Civil War. Gen. Robert E. Lee had an outstanding career prior to the Civil War and had even served as the Commandant of West Point. Many of these officers are revered and studied during military history. Today we live in a more zero-defect world. When a general falls from grace such as in the Gen. David Petraeus scandal they resign and no one gives a thought to their military heroics. We need to relook the names of these Army bases and follow the criteria set in AR 1-33.
AR 1-33
According to AR 1-33, these is certain criteria that must be met before there can be a permanent memorialization of Army real property in honor of a distinguished deceased individual. This is the criteria:
- Only deceased individuals will be memorialized
- Memorializations will honor deceased heroes and other deceased distinguished individuals of all races in our society, and will present them as inspirations to their fellow Soldiers, employees, and other citizens.
- An installation set up for the use of a specific branch of Service or activity normally will be memorialized for a distinguished member of that branch or Service while serving there.
- Facilities should be memorialized for individuals with ranks or grades comparable to those of the main users.
- When possible, facilities will be memorialized for individuals whose careers or actions were important to, and well known in, the locality where memorialized.
- Approval authorities who exercise authority under this regulation must establish and consider the advice and recommendations of the memorialization boards.
- The proponent of the committee will follow all the requirements of AR 15–1 for establishing and continuing the group as a committee. All decisions to memorialize personnel will be made with the understanding that the Army Memorial Program is designed to honor those who served with valor or distinction.
The Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) ASA (M&RA) is the approval authority. So, I say convene a memorialization board and reevaluate the 10 bases named after Confederate soldiers. So, my question is should a soldier who deserted the Army or rose up in arms against the United States be considered a hero or distinguished individual? I think not. The Army Memorial Program is supposed to honor those who served with valor or distinction. I can’t imagine how a black Soldier must feel stationed at Fort Gordon and is named after someone who was the head of the Ku Klux Klan. It is time for a change. What do you think?
DO NOT CHANGE THE NAMES OF MILITARY BASES TO SATISFY THE FAR LEFT LIBERAL DEMOCRATS..DON’T CHANGE OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM, DON’T TEAR DOWN MY COUNTRY’S HISTORY.
I agree 100%. If the military thinks this will bring unity than they are wrong. Nothing will be achieved except for another check on the BLM movement. Read the demands on their web site. They only want control NOT UNITY
i agree with you leave the present base alone!!
i a leave names alone and stautes this is american history
Completely agree with the writer. We were stationed at a base while it was undergoing a name change because of BRAC. It was doable.
I am in Full agreement with you. This is ridiculous. It is time to stand up and say “enough is enough”. No matter what the issue, someone is invariably “offended” by something. Don’t tear statues down, instead “Do something worthy of your own statue”
NO we should NOT rename anything or move destroy any more monuments. Because it’s our history. We need to stop being so politically correct Nation
Do not change , why we give in to a few complained about how ancestry were treated but has nothing to do with them . History is just that we learn for that what is next forgetting Vets that died protection their freedom .
NO. Do not change anything this is our history. The democrats are just trying to rewrite history.
This posting is ridiculous. As a society, we are constantly striving for ways to make this world a better place and we have done so with blood and treasure. You can’t change history, but we can learn from it. As an American of darker color, than most, its offensive and putrid to see feeble attempts to alter history.
First, it’s those Far-Left Democrats causing the problem. Then, it’s those History Revisionists, and then, to add insult to injury, it’s those whose ancestry has nothing to do with them. How does ancestry have nothing to do with a person? Perhaps we are only single-celled beings who have no past? With no ancestors to bring them either pride or shame? Change the names! Perhaps to some of those “forgetting Vets” we are suddenly feeling so sorry for.
Interesting how some people would like the status quo. “why we give in to a few complained about how ancestry were treated”. What a stupid/dumb comment. It’s not about how ancestors were treated, it’s about the treasonous action of many, cloaked in the claim for states rights. There are many, many more reasons to change these names but I won’t waste any more time trying to convince those with their minds already made up.
change your name too
I agree 100%. If the military thinks this will bring unity than they are wrong. Nothing will be achieved except for another check on the BLM movement. Read the demands on their web site. They only want control NOT UNITY
NO! Where does it stop, should Washington, DC be renamed as it honors a slaveholder as well as Columbus who has had his public image devalued? Should the Washington Monument, Mount Vernon, the Jefferson Memorial and the Wisen Bridge be torn down also?
No! This stupid crap has to stop. History is history, for good or bad. Changing names, n tearing down monuments/statues is not going to change anything.
Stop bowing down/kowtowing to the few, n listen to the majority of the people.
I was raised n born in the South, mostly, I was a Navy brat, and am a veteran myself, I was never brought up to be prejudice, my ancestors were slaves too, the Irish, but that wasn’t taught in school, now was it?
The native Americans were forced off their lands n slaughtered. Not just by “white people”.
History is history, u either learn by it or u don’t.
STOP trying to please everyone one, it’s not going to happen. My rights are just as important as some radical groups, in fact more so, cause I still have common sense!
BLM movement does not want “CHANGE”….they want to overthrow the govt.
Police reform is obviously needed……wrecking statues and private property will push their
Movement back decades….Conservative Americans will soon say.”Enough is enough and crush this revolt”
Re elect TRUMp
I dont really think the military wants our option. They will do what they want and the bases names will be changed. My biggest fear is that those in charge will get rid of our National Anthem and allow the troops to take a knee.
Of course they should be removed. WHY?Not only are they hurtful reminders, but the confederate reminders run counter to US efforts to help Germany heal from being run by Nazis despots. Likewise, more recently, this nation helped another nation state remove signs/symbols the people of Iraq wanted to remove.
Nevertheless, help me by informing my understanding. What other nation state glorifies those who tried to overthrow it by naming schools, streets, buildings, etc and using taxpayer dollars to do it? Even taxpayer dollars of people who take great offense of these structures being on public display as a reminder of injustice and man’s inhumanity. But equally important, while the Confederate reminders appear to promote the emotional and psychological well-being of some Americans, it is being done at the traumatic expense of other Americans well being – needlessly. How can that be considered just?
Upon reflection, what is the justification for investing in anti-American statuary? Is it an act of kindness and compassion. Is it in keeping with or support America’s national values.
Museums – no problem, especially private ones! To err is human and to forgive is divine – right?
BS They are a part of our history. Should we do away with the Holocaust Museum, the Museums @Auschwitz, etc.? No, they remind the younger generation that we do NOT want to go there ever ever again. This just liberal BS.
Elliot Waters, please tell us HONESTLY when the names of these bases became ‘hurtful reminders’ and ‘ traumatic expense of other Americans well being’ to you personally? I’d be willing to bet that if you and others were honest, you never gave it a thought until just recently when all this hullabaloo started..
It’s a ridiculous idea and a waste of money and resources.
The majority of the people crying to change the names have never spent one day in the uniform of our country. Whether North or South these were American soldiers. They need to leave the military bases alone.
The names of theses forts/ bases are named for people long since gone. This is 2020 and I am thinking that there is no-one currently alive that lived when these ‘heroes’ lived. This is history AND we learn from history. We can only change the present!!
Leave everything like it is.
Don’t change anything…….
If you want to rename Fort Lee, I’d say go ahead, AFTER you rename every public item (buildings, highways, etc.) named after Sen Robert Byrd. Otherwise, I can only take such action as hypocrisy at its worst.
Why should we give in and rename bases where thousands of men and women have come through the gates to serve their country and are proud they can say they were trained at that base? Why erase history to satisfy a few? What does it accomplish? What does it teach but that we can erase the things we find offensive and pretend they never existed. We must accept history, good, bad or indifferent. We must learn from it and not forget it just because we don’t like it. I was raised in the South. I know my history and while yes, the black people were treated horribly, What about some of my ancestors…the American Indian was made a slave long before the black slave set foot on this continent. We were slaughtered simply for existing. We weren’t given citizenship until 1924 or the right to vote until 1962. Stop giving in to every PC demand and stand up for the country that my family has fought and died for generations for before it ceases to exist forever. There is a change coming in the wind…..and it does not bode well especially when even its military bows it’s head.
NO Way, history is there to teach one about mistakes and not to repeat them. Everyone of those bases where named for a person whom showed their best at being leaders in there fields of operation. It doesn’t matter if they where confederate or not, each showed a degree of expertise for warfare. The military is a weapon not a political tool for the BLM communist.
When I reported to basic training in 1960 they assigned me a number, I had to learn it and still remember it.
Perhaps we should start using numbers to refer to military posts.
Using a human’s name is always going to anger someone no matter who is chosen.
I never paid attention to the history of the names on a military post but it sure seems to be effective today in stirring up hate for the real or imagined sins of the past. So many good people of all racial backgrounds lost their lives in the US Civil War. Some of my ancestors died fighting for the North in the war that ended slavery.
United we stand and divided we fall.
LEAVE OUR GREAT HISTORY UNTOUCHED! I SERVED OUR COUNTRY FOR 22 YEARS AND NOW CLOSE TO BECOMING A PART OF THAT HISTORY, I AM PROUD TO HAVE SERVED!
Here is a simple fix:
First, forget about history and political correctness or any other feeble excuse that is lurking around.
Second, put this renaming issue up for a vote. If you have a military ID card, leave it to those folks to decide. They are the ones who gave blood, sweat, and tears while they were stationed at these military locations. They are the ones who had children born at these locations. They are the ones who had loved who died or were buried at these installations. You want to talk about history, that is where the real history is.
The WWII Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, The Hiroshima Peace Memorial, and the Holocaust sites in Germany, to me, are examples of why we should not destroy our history, but rather, learn from it and hopefully not make the same mistakes. Our country has made many strides for the better since 1861 and visual reminders of the horrors of hatred and what it can lead to, I feel, go a long way to preventing it. I am proud to be a multi ethnic American and grateful that I have lived free thanks to many generations who have served.
Since when do the adults in the room give in to the children who don’t know the first thing about love of history, love of country, Those who have been coddled by the generations before them are now paying the price of the “me” generation. It will never be enough.
Leave our history alone.
Please realize that the majority of confederate soldiers who fought and died did not own slaves and certainly werent sacrificing their lives so that the large landowners could have slaves. look and see the percentages of each confederate state that owned slaves. study your history to learn why many southerners opposed the north and its tariffs and controlling attitudes. southerners traditionally were proud of their state and would fight to defend it. a large part of the civil war was about states right . you cannot change history by erasing it but you can learn from it. I am proud that my ancestors fought for what they believed. This was a war between Americans and you cannot now say that the south was all bad guys. unfortunately winners write history and now they have decided to rewrite history and to judge by their standards of today. How many of these people know or even care why it occurred and the reasons why the two opposing cultures clashed and so many Americans died.
Emphatically, NO! Concur w/many of those who’ve responded before me. Not simply a waste of time, money, but a slap in the face at history. My 10-year old’s answer to what seems to be an idea from an individual w/less logic: “Give Me A Break!, Geesh.”
So much hate here!!!
I am not so proud to have served and retired after reading so much hate on this site.
I would say let the people who lived on the base, worked at the base, or stationed at the base to decide whether to change the name or not.
No, most people who want them changes don’t even know who the forts were named for in the first place.
Food for thought…Everything that is Racist, Confederate and offensive NOW, and being demanded of President Trump, existed the 8 years Obama was President and existed long before him. Obama had Blacks death by White police officers and there were no riots like now. Had Hillary been elected would we see the same as what is happening now…OR, would it still have been acceptable?
We cannot rewrite our past, but we can improve the future for all our citizens. I do not believe that we should rename our bases or teardown our monuments. This insanity needs to stop.
I am so SICK of this! History is history! It’s done, and changing names won’t change what took place! These idiots that are demanding these changes have no idea what went on. If they don’t like it here, go to some other country and see how good they’ll be treated! Taking down statues and changing names of Bases is ridicules, They even want to change the name of Aunt Jemima syrup. Let the citizens of the USA vote on these issues. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t pass this stupid stuff!!
NO! I for one have dedicated 42 years of my life to my country to support the freedoms we have. We should never back down to the left wing, socialist, anti-american threat in our country today. Their only goal is to destroy our country, they have not contributed anything but hate and destruction, it’s time to take action to remove these terrorist from our society.
NO. People just need to get over whatever it is that is in their bonnet. These Bases have been like this for ever and actually they are their own bosses.. People don’t have the right to tell them what to do.. When you are on post you are in a whole different world. It is their post not yours. I would hate to think they would even think of doing that.
If the names must be changed is it possible to use names other than those of people? To use peoples names is to invite another political intervention at a later date. Honestly most people never pay any attention to the history behind the name of a post. But now history buffs are bringing us back to the Civil War.