The Defense Department has received recommendations for the new names of several of the U.S. Army’s most storied military posts, slated to be rechristened to scrub their affiliation with Confederate generals.
The Washington Examiner reported Tuesday that a special congressional commission formed to rename the posts had settled on the finalists of the nine posts in question.
At least one renamed site will be familiar to most Americans.
For example, Fort Gordon in Georgia is suggested to be dubbed Fort Eisenhower, in honor of former President Dwight Eisenhower, who had served as the supreme commander of allied troops in World War II.
Another gets an apolitical moniker. Fort Bragg in North Carolina has been proposed to become Fort Liberty.
The rest of the sites will be dedicated to largely unknowns.
For instance, Fort Hood, Texas, is recommended to be called Fort Cavazos, after Gen. Richard Cavazos, the Army’s first Hispanic-American four-star general who received a Silver Star, five Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart, and other medals for valor during a 33-year career in which he fought in Korea and Vietnam.
Fort Benning in Georgia could be renamed Fort Moore to honor Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and his wife, Julia. Gen. Moore served 32 years in the Army, and wrote a bestselling book about his experiences in Vietnam called “We Were Soldiers Once … and Young.” Mrs. Moore urged the Pentagon to establish “casualty notification teams” because previously families learned of their loved ones’ deaths in combat by taxi drivers delivering telegrams.
According to the Examiner, the rest of the list includes:
- Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia would become Fort Walker, in honor of Dr. Mary Walker, a surgeon who joined the North in the Civil War and became the Army’s first female surgeon. She later received the Medal of Honor.
- Fort Lee, also in Virginia, is expected to become Fort Gregg-Adams, named for two black Army officers. Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg rose through the ranks to become a three-star general, at one point overseeing logistics for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Lt. Col. Charity Adams led all-female units during World War II, and was the highest-ranking black woman officer when the war ended.
- Fort Pickett, another Virginia post, is anticipated to be Fort Barfoot, in honor of Col. Van Barfoot, who received the Medal of Honor for his efforts in fighting German forces in World War II.
- Fort Polk in Louisiana will be Fort Johnson, honoring Sgt. William Henry Johnson, who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2015 for his valiant actions in World War I.
- Fort Rucker in Alabama would become Fort Novosel after Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael Novosel, Sr., an Army and later Air Force pilot who flew more than 2,500 extraction missions and rescued more than 5,500 wounded soldiers, including his own son, who was shot down over Vietnam in 1970.
In a statement, retired Navy Adm. Michelle Howard, chairwoman of the Naming Commission, said “This was an exhaustive process that entailed hundreds of hours of research, community engagement, and internal deliberations.”
“This recommendation list includes American heroes whose stories deserve to be told and remembered; people who fought and sacrificed greatly on behalf of our nation,” she added.
As The Free Press reported in March, all nine posts were built or opened in either 1917 and 1918 or 1941 or 1942, as the United States was embroiled in or gearing up for one of two world wars.
While some have questioned naming the posts after “traitors,” some maintain the Army opted for those names as an attempt at reconciliation after the Civil War, to recognize generals well known for their military expertise and leadership, and because those sites were in the South, known at the time for open area, cheap land, and a favorable climate.
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All in all, l would say that the committee made good choices. I served in the military for 30 years and never appreciated army bases named for confederate officers (although I understood the rationale). It not like there is a Hermann Goring USAF base in Germany.