The process of removing names of military installations, ships, and other items that were inspired by Confederates and adopting new names is underway.
The Pentagon announced on Thursday that William A. LaPlante, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, directed the Department of Defense to move forward with implementing the renaming recommendations made by the Commission on the Naming of Items of the Department of Defense recommendations last summer.
The DoD said in an announcement that naming after Confederates had been done during “the height of the Jim Crow Laws in the South,” in an effort to garner support from the South and without consideration for Black service members.
“All this changed in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in 2020,” the announcement said. “Many people protested systemic racism and pointed to Confederate statues and bases as part of that system.”
DEFENSE SECRETARY AUSTIN ORDERS RENAMING OF MILITARY BASES WITH CONFEDERATE TIES
A sign shows Fort Bragg information May 13, 2004 in Fayettville, North Carolina. The 82d Airborne Division was assigned here in 1946, upon its return form Europe. In 1951, XVIII Airborne Corps was reactivated here and Fort Bragg became widely known as the "home of the airborne." Today Fort Bragg and neighboring Pope Air Force Base form one of the largest military complexes in the world.
(Photo by Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images)
The commission released its recommendations in a three-part final report to Congress in August and September.
As per the recommendations, many well-known bases and items will receive new names. For example, Fort Bragg in North Carolina – named after Confederate General Braxton Bragg – will be renamed Fort Liberty. Similarly, Fort Gordon, Ga., named for senior Confederate officer John Brown Gordon, will become Fort Eisenhower, in honor of Army General and former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Fort Hood, Texas, originally named for Confederate officer John Bell Hood, will be known as Fort Cavazos, after Gen. Richard Cavazos, the first Hispanic man to earn a four-star rank in the U.S. Army.
NAMING COMMISSION RECOMMENDS ARMY AND NAVAL ACADEMIES SCRAP NAMES OF CONFEDERATE ALUMNI
FILE – The main gate at the U.S. Army post at Fort Hood, Texas is pictured in this undated photograph, obtained on Nov. 5, 2009.
(REUTERS/III Corps Public Affairs/U.S. Army/Handout)
These are just a few of the nine bases set for renaming. Among other renamings are locations at the U.S. Military Academy named for Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard.
Fort Gordon in Georgia.
(Google Maps)
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Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin accepted all of the recommendations, which must now be put into effect by the end of this year.