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Washington (AFP) – The US will rename 9 military bases that honor figures from the pro-slavery Confederacy by the start of 2024, Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin mentioned on Thursday.
Nationwide protests in opposition to racism and police brutality that have been sparked by the 2020 homicide of George Floyd reignited calls to rename the bases, and Congress mandated that they be modified regardless of opposition from then-president Donald Trump.
“The names of those installations and services ought to encourage all those that name them residence, absolutely mirror the historical past and the values of the USA, and commemorate the very best of the republic that we’re all sworn to guard,” Austin wrote in a memo on the choice.
The 2021 protection funds required the institution of a fee to plan for the removing of Accomplice-linked “names, symbols, shows, monuments, or paraphernalia” from protection division property, and gave the secretary three years to hold out its suggestions.
“I’m dedicated to implementing the entire fee’s suggestions as quickly as attainable,” Austin mentioned within the memo, including that this can occur when a 90-day ready interval expires in December and might be accomplished “no later than January 1, 2024.”
The modifications “will give proud new names which are rooted of their native communities and that honor American heroes whose valor, braveness, and patriotism exemplify the easiest of the USA navy,” he wrote.
Trump opposed the renaming effort, tweeting in 2020 that his administration “won’t even contemplate” altering the names of the bases, which “have develop into a part of a Nice American Heritage, and a historical past of Profitable, Victory, and Freedom.”
He vetoed the protection invoice, however Congress overrode it in a blow to the president, who by then had misplaced the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
All the bases being renamed are positioned in Southern states that seceded from the USA and fashioned the Confederacy, which misplaced the 1861-1865 Civil Battle.
They embody Fort Benning in Georgia, residence to the US Army Infantry College, and Fort Bragg in North Carolina, residence to the US Special Forces Command and the storied 82nd Airborne Division.
Fort Benning is at the moment named after brigadier common Henry Benning, an ardent secessionist who argued for the “superiority” of the white race.
The fee really helpful or not it’s renamed Fort Moore to honor US lieutenant common Hal Moore — who commanded American troops throughout their first main battle with North Vietnamese forces — and his spouse Julia.
Fort Bragg, named for main common Braxton Bragg, a clumsy common who was relieved of command, is really helpful to develop into Fort Liberty.
© 2022 AFP
