Commandant of Marine Corps orders immediate removal of Confederate symbols from all its bases

by Walter Einenkel

Daily Kos Staff

Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 at 10:50:10am PST

Confederate troops fire their muskets at oncoming Union troops during the Battle at the Sherfy House on July 2, 2011 during re-enactments of battles during the three-day battle of Gettysburg at the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point in the Civil War, the Union victory that ended General Robert E. Lee's second and most ambitious invasion of the North in 1863. Often referred to as the 'High Water Mark of the Rebellion', it was the war's bloodiest battle with 51,000 casualties and the setting for President Abraham Lincoln's 'Gettysburg Address'. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. AFP PHOTO/ Karen BLEIER (Photo credit should read KAREN BLEIER/AFP via Getty Images) — You are done. It's over. You lost.

Last week, U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger sent out a memo that included instructions to leaders of the corps around the world to remove “Confederate-related paraphernalia” from its installations. According to Military.com, the instructions were among “several forward-leaning initiatives” outlined in the memo that Berger wants started immediately.

In a series of tweets, Berger outlined some of the memo’s instructions. Responses on Twitter summed up the majority of Americans’ feelings about Confederate symbols.

i know that some ppl will be mad about this but in fairness we had a whole war some years ago regarding what flag goes where and we decided this one goes in the fucking trash, so. pic.twitter.com/FPRQv3iCfb
— matthew. Ã°ÂÂ¦ÂÃ°ÂÂÂ¨ (@iAmTheWarax) February 27, 2020

Earlier in February, Military Times published a survey that found a significant rise from the previous year in the number of troops who had seen “evidence of white supremacist and racist ideologies in the military.” That number included over 50% of enlisted people of color saying they had witnessed racist behavior in the corps. The poll also showed that the majority of troops asked thought that white nationalism was a “greater national security threat than both domestic terrorism with a connection to Islam, as well as immigration.”

Also included in the memo are instructions to top brass to find ways to move more women into combat roles in the Marine Corps. In 2016, the Department of Defense instituted a 12-week maternity leave policy covering active duty personnel. The new memo instructs Marine Corps leaders to look into a proposed one-year parental leave policy. Noted Military.com, Marine Corps spokesman Maj. Craig Thomas said, “The policy does not specifically use the terms 'same-sex couples,' rather it incorporates gender-neutral terms to ensure no Marine who rates parental leave is excluded."