Austin Orders Renaming of Bases that Honor Accomplice Rebels

Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday signed off on an impartial fee’s suggestions to rename army bases that honor Accomplice officers and scrub a protracted record of references commemorating the southern rebel.

The Naming Fee, established by Congress final yr, took stock of the entire army’s up to date references to the Confederecy, which waged warfare towards the US to protect the slave commerce. It discovered 9 Army bases and several other buildings commemorating insurgent officers, along with a monument honoring Accomplice troopers at Arlington Nationwide Cemetery.

“The names of those installations and amenities ought to encourage all those that name them residence, absolutely mirror the historical past and the values of the US, and commemorate the very best of the republic that we’re all sworn to guard,” Austin, the primary Black protection secretary, mentioned in an announcement during which he mentioned he agreed with the fee’s suggestions. 

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The order from Austin to comply with the suggestions of the fee will probably be held up by a 90-day ready interval typically, per the congressional motion that began the renaming course of, however must be in place by 2024 on the newest.

In whole, the fee discovered some 1,100 Accomplice references throughout the Protection Division, together with the missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville, which was named after a serious southern victory in a battle towards the Union. 

The 9 Army bases will probably be renamed after a various roster of historic figures, together with girls and minorities, a radical departure from principally naming bases after white males.

Fort Polk, Louisiana, for instance will probably be named after Sgt. William Johnson, a Black Medal of Honor recipient for valor throughout World Conflict I. Fort Benning, Georgia, will probably be renamed Fort Moore in commemoration of Lt. Gen. Hal Moore, a famed cavalry officer depicted in “We Had been Troopers,” and his spouse, Julia Moore, who spurred the Army to create casualty notification groups. Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, will honor Dr. Mary Walker, the one feminine Medal of Honor recipient for her actions treating the wounded in the course of the Civil Conflict. She was additionally a prisoner of warfare. 

The opposite bases with their deliberate new names are:

However not all references had been robotically placed on the chopping block. The Virginia Nationwide Guard’s famed twenty ninth Infantry Division, recognized for its legendary battle storming the seashores of Nazi-occupied France, has a yin yang unit insignia with blue and gray, referencing items that initially belonged to opposing sides of the Civil Conflict forming collectively beneath a single banner throughout World Conflict I. It is not going to be modified. 

“The Fee has chosen names that echo with honor, patriotism, and historical past — names that can encourage generations of Service members to defend our democracy and our Structure,” Austin mentioned. 

— Steve Beynon may be reached at Steve.Beynon@army.com. Comply with him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.

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