Latest news with #baseNames
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Hegseth says renaming military bases after Civil War soldiers who fought for slavery is ‘important for morale'
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted Wednesday that military veterans and active-duty troops urged the Trump administration to rename American military bases after Confederate traitors who took up arms against the government to defend the enslavement of Black people — a move the secretary claims is 'important for morale.' In his testimony to the Senate Armed Services committee, Hegseth defended the president's decision to restore the names of several military bases in the South that were first named in honor of Confederate generals, despite Congress mandating their removal five years ago. 'It's something we've been proud to do, something that's important for the morale of the Army, and those communities appreciate that we've returned it back to what it was instead of playing this game of erasing names,' Hegseth said. Donald Trump is restoring the previous base names — including Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Rucker, Fort Polk, Fort AP Hill and Fort Lee — but claims to be finding military veterans and officials of distinction who share the same last names as the original Confederate honorees. Maine Sen. Angus King said he was 'somewhat puzzled' by the president's recent announcement to troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina — which was renamed Fort Liberty under Joe Biden — that his administration was restoring the names of several bases, including Virginia's Fort Lee, which was initially named after Gen. Robert E. Lee before it was renamed Fort Gregg-Adams in 2023. Lee is the 'classic definition of a traitor,' King said. 'Why are you going through these incredible gymnastics, finding current soldiers or other soldiers to rename — and you slipped a minute ago, you said we're returning these bases to their original names,' King said. 'Why are you doing this? I don't understand what the motivation is to rename bases for people who took up arms against their country on behalf of slavery,' he added. 'What possible motivation could there be for this? Who is telling you to do this? Who is urging you to do this?' Hegseth said veterans and service members deployed from those bases share a 'legacy' and a 'connection' to the names. 'Thankfully, because so many men and women in this country have served, there's a Benning and a Bragg and a Pickett and a Hood that has a silver star or medal of honor that we can rename the bases to,' he added. Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel, disputed Hegseth's claim that veterans like her who were deployed from those bases have asked for the names to be returned. Duckworth, a former helicopter pilot who lost both her legs after her Black Hawk helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq, served Alabama's Fort Rucker, named after confederate officer Edmund Rucker. The name was changed to honor Medal of Honor recipient Michael J. Novosel in 2023. 'I'd rather be associated with Mike Novosel than a failed confederate traitor,' Duckworth said. Senators also rejected Hegseth's claim that changing the base names is 'erasing history.' 'We're recognizing history, and recognizing mistakes have been made in this country,' King said. 'The greatest of all was a civil war.' Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia asked Hegseth how the family of Arthur Gregg — the first African American in the U.S. Army to reach the rank of lieutenant general — reacted to news that the military base honoring his name would be reverted to Fort Lee. 'You didn't call any of the families,' Kaine said. 'The families were called by the press. That's how they learned about this.' He asked that Hegseth not issue any orders to change the names of those bases to continue to recognize 'exemplary patriots' like Gregg. The secretary said notices to the bases will be delivered 'soon.' 'We very much thank and appreciate them, and we'll find ways to recognize them, but the orders will soon be going to those bases to change the names back to the original name that should have never been changed,' Hegseth said.
News.com.au
11-06-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Trump orders names restored to military bases honoring Confederates
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he has ordered the restoration of the names of several US military bases that honored officers who fought for the Confederacy in the American Civil War. While the redesignations will return the facilities to their original names, they come with a twist, as the bases will ostensibly honor other military personnel who have the same names, and not those who fought to maintain slavery in the South. The Republican president made the announcement in a speech at the country's largest military base, which he had renamed to Fort Bragg in February after predecessor Joe Biden changed it to Fort Liberty in 2023. "We are also going to be restoring the names to Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Rucker, Fort Polk, Fort A.P. Hill and Fort Robert E. Lee," Trump told soldiers. "We won a lot of battles out of those forts. It's no time to change." The move reverses a renaming process begun in the wake of the death of George Floyd, whose murder by police in 2020 focused a spotlight on systemic racism. A naming commission ultimately recommended hundreds of locations be redesignated, among them nine US Army bases named after Confederate officers who had fought for the South in defense of slavery during the country's 1861-1865 Civil War. The Pentagon said Tuesday that the new base names, while consistent with the last names of the Confederate officers, actually honor different military veterans. For example, while the original Fort Bragg honors Confederate general Braxton Bragg, the new name commemorates Roland L. Bragg, a little-known World War II hero, officials said. Fort Robert E Lee in Virginia, which was redesignated Fort Gregg-Adams in honor of two African-American servicemembers, was changed back to Fort Lee. But the new name honors Medal of Honor recipient Private Fitz Lee who fought in the Spanish-American War, said the Pentagon, and not the Robert E Lee who was overall commander of the Confederate army.
