U.S. commission recommends renaming nine Army bases to strip Confederate legacy

[The Mark]

MSN

www.msn.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Congressionally mandated commission announced on Tuesday its recommendations for changes to the names of nine U.S. Army bases that currently honor the Confederacy and Confederate leaders.

The recommended changes, if implemented, would name bases in honor of Black, Hispanic and female American heroes, including Mary Edwards Walker, the only woman to win the Medal of Honor for her service as a surgeon during the Civil War. They are:

• Fort Benning, Georgia – rename Fort Moore after Lieutenant General Hal and Julia Moore.
• Fort Bragg, North Carolina – rename Fort Liberty after the value of liberty.
• Fort Gordon, Georgia – rename Fort Eisenhower after General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower.
• Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia – rename Fort Walker after Dr. Mary Walker
• Fort Hood, Texas – rename Fort Cavazos after General Richard Cavazos
• Fort Lee, Virginia – rename Fort Gregg-Adams after Lieutenant General Arthur Gregg and Lieutenant Colonel Charity Adams
• Fort Pickett, Virginia – rename Fort Barfoot after Technical Sergeant Van T. Barfoot
• Fort Polk, Louisiana – rename Fort Johnson after Sergeant William Henry Johnson
• Fort Rucker, Alabama – rename Fort Novosel after Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael J. Novosel, Sr.

I am assuming Congress will simply approve these name changes.
Since contesting any would plop them directly into the morass of politics around the change and they can avoid it by just saying they went with what the Commission recommended.

 

[The Mark]

I can definitely predict some jokes for anyone stationed at Fort Johnson.

 

[Mr Person]

INB4 a thinly guised "but what about our heritage of treason in favor of slavery and our freedoms!"

 

[Mr Person]

I can definitely predict some jokes for anyone stationed at Fort Johnson.

Which would be beautifully on-target if it was named after Lyndon B. Johnson.

 

[Rexedgar]

The commission, which has no power to change the names on its own, said it will complete a written report for Congress by Oct. 1. - from the OP link


What takes so long? This was under discussion over two years ago.

 

[Rexedgar]

Which would be beautifully on-target if it was named after Lyndon B. Johnson.

“You can call me Ray………..”

 

[The Mark]

The commission, which has no power to change the names on its own, said it will complete a written report for Congress by Oct. 1. - from the OP link


What takes so long? This was under discussion over two years ago.

I assume they were considering a bunch of factors most of us don't even realize exist, to try and go for the best options.

 

[The Mark]

Which would be beautifully on-target if it was named after Lyndon B. Johnson.

Nope, WWI black sergeant who was apparently wounded 21 times in battle, died in 1929 in part due to those wounds, and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2015.

Sergeant Henry Johnson | Medal of Honor Recipient | The United States Army

#USArmy Sergeant Henry Johnson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic acts in World War I. #MedalOfHonor

www.army.mil

Henry Johnson (World War I soldier) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Mr Person]

Nope, WWI black sergeant who was apparently wounded 21 times in battle, died in 1929 in part due to those wounds, and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2015.

Sergeant Henry Johnson | Medal of Honor Recipient | The United States Army

#USArmy Sergeant Henry Johnson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic acts in World War I. #MedalOfHonor

www.army.mil

Henry Johnson (World War I soldier) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yeah, I saw the OP. I just thought it'd be hilarious if it was instead named after the President who loved showing off his junk.

 

[Gatsby]

Good. We shouldn't have US military bases named after people who shot and killed US soldiers.

 

[The Mark]

Yeah, I saw the OP. I just thought it'd be hilarious if it was instead named after the President who loved showing off his junk.

I mean yes, it would be.

And I'm still wondering if this commission intentionally recommended renaming Fort Polk to Fort Johnson will full knowledge of the inevitable jokes.

Edit: That said, they probably had more serious reasons.

 

[Mr Person]

I mean yes, it would be.

And I'm still wondering if this commission intentionally recommended renaming Fort Polk to Fort Johnson will full knowledge of the inevitable jokes.

Edit: That said, they probably had more serious reasons.

They probably did, and the troops are going to have fun with it as a bonus.

 

[Nomad4Ever]

I can definitely predict some jokes for anyone stationed at Fort Johnson.

They'll live. We already have Ft Dix.

 

[Rexedgar]

I assume they were considering a bunch of factors most of us don't even realize exist, to try and go for the best options.

The commission seems to be in agreement. All that is needed is a typist, why October?

 

[The Mark]

The commission seems to be in agreement. All that is needed is a typist, why October?

Congress has a schedule?

 

[Jredbaron96]

Why on earth we named a Fort after one of the objectively worst Generals in American history remains a mystery, Bragg.

 

[CaughtInThe]

We should name our military bases after foreigners who killed the most US soldiers.

 

[The Mark]

Why on earth we named a Fort after one of the objectively worst Generals in American history remains a mystery, Bragg.

It was named in 1918 during WWI, around that time was when the push to rewrite history around the Civil War was underway, I think?
Probably political reasons to try and calm the backlash from racists?
Frankly I'm not that familiar with US domestic history of that time.

 

[Loulit01]

I wonder if we can name bases after William Tecumseh Sherman, whose father named him after the great Native American chief, when he went around killing Indians wholesale after the Civil War.

 

[OrphanSlug]

Long overdue, and another example that it takes the government forever to do anything.

 

[The Mark]

I wonder if we can name bases after William Tecumseh Sherman, whose father named him after the great Native American chief, when he went around killing Indians wholesale after the Civil War.

Fort Sherman - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Not sure if you were being sarcastic or not, but we did and it's now a former base, no longer active.

 

[The Mark]

Why on earth we named a Fort after one of the objectively worst Generals in American history remains a mystery, Bragg.

For the bragging rights.

 

[Schism]

I would name each base a different species of flower.

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

The commission, which has no power to change the names on its own, said it will complete a written report for Congress by Oct. 1. - from the OP link


What takes so long? This was under discussion over two years ago.

People get paid to work for those commissions and that pay stops when the commission finishes its task and shuts down.

Remember "Army Rule ___" - "A bad idea will eventually be adopted if enough people spend enough time studying it, simply because so much time, effort, and money has been expended on it.".

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

Good. We shouldn't have US military bases named after people who shot and killed US soldiers.

Well, at least none of them were named after US military leaders who shot and killed American civilians.