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RAB910

(3,445 posts)
Thu Jun 11, 2020, 09:18 AM Jun 2020

Why are so many of our military bases honoring Confederate Generals?

They are racist traitors who were our enemies. Where is Fort Benedict Arnold? Where is Fort Erwin Rommel?


In June 2020, amidst nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd while in police custody, the U.S. military began rethinking its traditional connection to Confederate Army symbols, including base names.[2] Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy indicated they were "open to a bipartisan discussion" but President Donald Trump said his administration would "not even consider" renaming what he called "Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations" that "have become part of a Great American Heritage, a history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom." If Congress were to pass such legislation, said Trump's press secretary, the president would not sign it.[1]

Camp Beauregard near Pineville, Louisiana, named for Louisiana native and Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard[3]
Fort Benning, near Columbus, Georgia, named after Henry L. Benning, a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army[4][5]
Fort Bragg in North Carolina, named for Confederate General Braxton Bragg
Fort Gordon near Grovetown, Georgia, named in honor of John Brown Gordon, who was a major general in the Confederate army
Fort A.P. Hill near Bowling Green, Virginia, named for Virginia native and Confederate Lieutenant General A. P. Hill[6]
Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, who is best known for commanding the Texas Brigade during the American Civil War
Fort Lee in Prince George County, Virginia, named for Confederate General Robert E. Lee[7]
Fort Pickett near Blackstone, Virginia, named for Confederate General George Pickett
Fort Polk near Leesville, Louisiana, named in honor of the Right Reverend Leonidas Polk, an Episcopal Bishop and Confederate General
Fort Rucker in Dale County, Alabama, named for Confederate General Edmund Rucker


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._Army_installations_named_for_Confederate_soldiers
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Johnny2X2X

(18,744 posts)
3. This
Thu Jun 11, 2020, 09:23 AM
Jun 2020

It was done to appease the South, but the South wanted to make sure that slavery was front and center for minorities to see everywhere. Same thing with these statues, they were put there specifically to intimidate blacks.

Cirque du So-What

(25,812 posts)
4. Location, location, location
Thu Jun 11, 2020, 09:25 AM
Jun 2020

It's similar to states in the defunct confederacy naming every fucking thing after loser generals and politicos - schools, parks, boulevards - you name it. Motives? Assertion of racial dominance and attempting to soothe the sting of fucking LOSING.

PaulRevere08

(449 posts)
7. They should all be renamed - it would be a great opportunity to recognize real American
Thu Jun 11, 2020, 09:58 AM
Jun 2020

hero's from those states.

Who could bases be named after if they were changed?

[link:https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2020/06/10/trump-confederate-bases/|

The biggest formal push to rename an installation is to reflag Fort Hood after Roy Benavidez, a Green Beret who received the Medal of Honor for action in Cambodia during the Vietnam War.

Benavidez endured “six hours in hell,” he would later say of a 1968 battle in which he held his intestines in his hand, stabbed an enemy soldier to death and loaded the wounded and dead onto two helicopters.

He later said he had so many injuries and was so bloodied he was mistaken for a dead man and stuffed in a body bag until he spat in a doctor’s face. He earned five Purple Hearts in combat.

Benavidez died in 1998, and his name is on a stretch of highway, a Navy cargo ship, a short graphic novel, a commemorative G.I. Joe figure and, in a nod to his passion for education, several Texas schools. The League of United Latin American Citizens, an advocacy group, urged the Army last year to rename Fort Hood for him.

In recent days, veterans and others have lobbied for other historical figures, opening the door for women and minorities. One is Mary Edwards Walker, a surgeon and prisoner during the Civil War and the only woman who has received the Medal of Honor.

Calls on Twitter also intensified to rename Fort Benning after Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe, a black soldier and Georgia native whose actions in Iraq quickly became a legend.

In 2005, his vehicle was destroyed by an improvised explosive device and consumed in flames. Cashe entered the Bradley three times to rescue six soldiers while he himself was on fire. He died of his injuries weeks later.

Cashe received the Silver Star for his heroism, although many say he deserved the Medal of Honor. Renaming Fort Benning after him, advocates have said, would correct at least one injustice.

jimfields33

(15,462 posts)
8. No. I'd rather Iraq war or Afghanistan vets due to recent times
Thu Jun 11, 2020, 10:13 AM
Jun 2020

We need to stop looking to the past which is the point of renaming the bases to begin with. Or firemen that gave their lives on 9/11. Let’s at least keep it with heroes in the 2000’s.

gladium et scutum

(803 posts)
11. That is not the case
Thu Jun 11, 2020, 11:56 AM
Jun 2020

Henry L. Benning, John B. Gordon and Edmund Rucker did not attend West Point. Leonidas Polk graduated from West Point, six month later he resigned his commission in the Army, to become a minister.

 

Baclava

(12,047 posts)
13. Army Bases named after Army Generals? Its all about War and Warfighting, not what uniform they wore
Thu Jun 11, 2020, 01:19 PM
Jun 2020

Human civilization is bathed in blood, from the very beginning, war has always been glorified.

These Generals on both sides had 10-20,000 dead after every big battle, we forget in these antiseptic times what cannon fodder war was like.

ProfessorGAC

(64,419 posts)
14. The Stupidest Is Ft. Pickett
Thu Jun 11, 2020, 01:30 PM
Jun 2020

He "followed orders" and ran his division into a meat grinder. Either wasn't smart enough to see what a bad plan it was, or insufficient leadership to change Lee's mind.
Hey, let's name a fort after someone who not just lost, but lost badly & stupidly!

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