
US Army to bring back names of 7 bases that once honored Confederate leaders
CNN
The US Army said Tuesday it will restore the names of seven Army bases that previously honored Confederate leaders.
The US Army said Tuesday it will restore the names of seven Army bases that previously honored Confederate leaders. “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,” President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday at Fort Bragg, which was briefly known as Fort Liberty until the administration changed it back earlier this year. “We won a lot of battles out of those forts. It’s no time to change.” The Army plans to give the bases new namesakes honoring “heroic Soldiers who served in conflicts ranging from the Civil War to the Battle of Mogadishu,” according to a news release, as it rolls back the Biden-era name changes. Reverting the base names to the original Confederate namesakes would require congressional approval. The move comes after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a National Guard veteran and former longtime Fox News host, moved quickly to roll back name changes at other Army bases, such as Fort Bragg and Fort Benning. Hegseth also ordered the secretary of the Navy to rename the oiler ship USNS Harvey Milk, which had honored the gay rights activist and Navy veteran who was made to resign from the force because of his sexual orientation. Removing Confederate monikers from US military bases became a contentious political issue in the final months of Trump’s first term. While Trump vetoed the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act that included a naming commission to study and recommend new titles for bases named after Confederate leaders, Congress voted to override his veto with overwhelming bipartisan support.













