In a remarkably forward-looking move from the Department of Defense, by 2024, nine army bases that pay homage to the Confederacy and its pro-slavery mentality will be renamed to honor more honorable Americans.
Sparked by public outcry and national and international protests following the assassination of George Floyd in 2020, calls were made to rename the bases and a Republican-controlled Senate passed the 2021 defense appropriations bill. The bill required establishing a commission to plan for the removal of all Confederate-associated "names, symbols, displays, monuments, or paraphernalia."
On Thursday, the country’s first Black Department of Defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, signed off on recommendations made by The Naming Commission, a group established by Congress to catalog all Confederate-affiliated military assets and then make suggestions for appropriate naming, renaming, and removals.
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“The names of these installations and facilities should inspire all those who call them home, fully reflect the history and the values of the United States, and commemorate the best of the republic that we are all sworn to protect," Austin said in a statement, per Military.com.
The commission recommended the renaming of nine U.S. military bases, along with several buildings and a bronze monument at Arlington Cemetery that honored a group of Confederate soldiers with their Black slaves in tow.
According to Military.com, Austin’s renaming order has a 90-day waiting period but is expected to be implemented by 2024 at the latest.
The nine bases (all in Southern states) were listed in the first part of the Commission’s final report: Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Rucker, Alabama; Fort Polk, Louisiana; Fort Benning and Fort Gordon in Georgia; and Fort A.P.Hill, Fort Lee, and Fort Pickett in Virginia.
The changes "will give proud new names that are rooted in their local communities and that honor American heroes whose valor, courage, and patriotism exemplify the very best of the United States military," Austin wrote.
Trump opposed changing the names of the bases and then vetoed the provision at the time. He tweeted, "These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom."
Congress overrode Trump’s veto; by then, he had already lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
According to the commission’s report, Fort Benning will be named Fort Moore “in commemoration of Lt. Gen. Hal Moore, a famed cavalry officer depicted in [the film] ‘We Were Soldiers,’ and his wife, Julia Moore, who spurred the Army to create casualty notification teams,” Military.com writes.
Fort Polk will be renamed Fort Johnson after Sgt. William Johnson, “a Black Medal of Honor recipient for valor during World War I,” per Military.com.
The other bases will be renamed as below: