Commission emphasizes bravery, diversity and heroism in recommending new service member names for Army bases now honoring Confederate rebels

A federal commission has recommended that the U.S. Army’s home for logisticians in Virginia no longer bear the name of the commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.

Fort Lee instead should be called Fort Gregg-Adams, in honor of two pioneering and distinguished Black service members: Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg, 95, a three-star Army logistician who enlisted at age 17 and served the military logistics community for 36 years; and the late Lt. Col. Charity Adams, who commanded the 855-member 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the largest unit of African American women to serve overseas in World War II (https://www.rallypoint.com/command-post/no-mail-low-morale-black-women-s-army-corps-unit-earns-medal-of-honor-for-world-war-ii-service-overseas). Adams became one of the highest ranking women to serve during that conflict.

Gregg and Adams join other U.S. military heroes of history that the so-called Naming Commission recommended on May 24 be the new representatives of eight U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) assets and installations now bearing the names of people who fought against the union to defend slavery. (A ninth asset, Fort Bragg in North Carolina, named after a slaveowner and notoriously awful military commander, is named “Fort Liberty,” and so represents a concept rather than a person.)

Removing names of traitors to the nation

The commission, authorized in the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which became law on Jan. 1, 2021, is charged with inventorying DOD-owned or -operated assets for names, symbols, displays, monuments or paraphernalia to determine if they meet commission-established criteria of honoring the Confederate States of America or anyone who volunteered to serve the Confederacy.

“Those who complain that removing the names of traitors from these bases ignores history ought to learn some history themselves,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, said on the Senate floor on June 29, 2020, in support of the NDAA and for people rallying worldwide for justice following the death of George Floyd and so many other Black Americans at the hands of police and violent racists.

By then the bill had included Warren’s language establishing the Naming Commission and requiring the DOD secretary to remove Confederate names from DOD assets.

“These bases were not named in the years following the Civil War. No,” Warren said. “They were named decades and decades later, during the Jim Crow era, to strengthen a movement that tried to glorify the Confederacy and reinforce White supremacy.”

“Think about that,” she continued, “these bases were named to honor individuals who took up arms against our nation, in a war that killed more than half a million Americans. They took up arms to defend an institution that reduced Black people to property. Naming these bases after Confederate rebels was wrong.”

Honoring loyal and heroic military figures

The eight-person commission, chaired by Navy Adm. Michelle Howard and vice chaired by Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule, both retired, is assessing the cost of renaming or removing the asset. The panel also recommends procedures for renaming assets and develops removal plans, taking into account local sensitivities during post visits and receiving 34,000 name suggestions from the public.

The panel’s other name-change recommendations are:

Fort Benning in Georgia to Fort Moore, after Lt. Gen. Hal and Julia Moore. This would be first base also named after a military spouse. Seidule said during a May 24 media roundtable that Moore served for 32 years, receiving the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest medal for gallantry in combat in the battle of Ia Drang in Vietnam. “Julia Moore served the nation just as much as her spouse,” Seidule said. “Her advocacy changed the Army and created the casualty notification program and later survivor support networks. With Hal and Julia Moore, we recognize the Army family that serves the nation together.”

Fort Gordon in Georgia to Fort Eisenhower, after Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Seidule noted that Eisenhower started at West Point and spent his life in service, leading the D-Day landings in Normandy during World War II and serving as president during the nuclear age.

Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia to Fort Walker, after Dr. Mary Edwards Walker. Serving during the Civil War, Walker was the Army’s first female surgeon. She received the Medal of Honor for staying with wounded soldiers after the Army unit departed, leaving her vulnerable to enemy capture. She spent four months in a prisoner of war camp. “No women were allowed in the Army during the Civil War, but she insisted on serving even though she could not wear the blue uniform,” Seidule said.

Fort Hood in Texas to Fort Cavazos, after Gen. Richard E. Cavazos. A native Texan, Lt. Cavazos in Korea led his company on three separate charges of an enemy position, returning to the field five times to evacuate wounded soldiers before accepting treatment for his wounds. For that action, Seidule said, Cavazos received the Distinguished Service Cross, or DSC. He later served as a battalion commander in Vietnam, where he received a second DSC for rallying his ambushed soldiers and organizing a counterattack. He finished his career as a four-star general.

Fort Polk in Louisiana to Fort Johnson, after Sgt. William Henry Johnson. As one of the world’s premier training sites for light forces, Seidule said the commission named this installation after someone to inspire soldiers in training. As related by Seidule, this is Johnson’s story, and why he received the Medal of Honor: “On May 14,1918, in France, a German raiding party attacked Johnson and another soldier. Despite a grenade wound, Johnson attacked the Germans. First, he threw all his grenades. Then, he fired all his rifle ammunition. When he ran out of bullets, he used the butt of his rifle as a club until it was smashed to bits. Finally, he took out his bolo knife to save his comrade. He single handedly engaged two dozen enemy soldiers despite suffering 21 separate wounds. Teddy Roosevelt called him one of the five bravest soldiers of the Great War.”

Fort Pickett in Virginia to Fort Barfoot, after Tech Sgt. Van T. Barfoot. On May 23, 1944, Barfoot’s unit set out to attack an entrenched German position in Northern Italy. According to Seidule, Barfoot moved out alone, against the enemy’s left flank, taking out three separate machine gun emplacements, capturing 17 prisoners by morning. During a three-tank German counterattack that afternoon, he took a bazooka and disabled one tank at close range, forcing the other tanks to retreat. He brought two grievously wounded soldiers to safety across a mile of contested terrain, for which he received the Medal of Honor. He served for 34 years, retiring as a colonel.

Fort Rucker in Alabama to Fort Novosel, after Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael J. Novosel, Senior. Starting his military career flying B-29s in World War II, Novosel is a fitting representative of the home of Army aviation, Seidule said. With a son who served alongside him, he also represents generational service. As a 43-year-old reservist, Novosel volunteered for active duty, resigning his Air Force lieutenant colonel commission to join the Army as a warrant officer and helicopter pilot. Seidule noted he flew more than 2,500 extraction missions in Vietnam, rescuing more than 5,500 wounded soldiers. During one “extraordinary” mission on Oct. 2, 1969, Seidule said Novosel saved 29 men despite suffering severe wounds, receiving the Medal of Honor. On another mission, he rescued his son, a fellow helicopter pilot. Later, his son rescued him.

Seidule was asked during the media roundtable why Harriet Tubman’s name was not recommended. Among many other roles in history, Tubman was a cook, spy and scout for the Union Army during the Civil War, according to her biography on the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway website. In 1863, she became the first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war, freeing 700 people held as slaves.

Seidule said Tubman made the short list of 87 names, but that there were too many heroes and too few assets to name. He said the commission could select names from those remaining on the list, including Tubman’s, for recommendations in renaming some 750 other DOD assets associated with the Confederacy.

The commission’s plan, containing a full list of asset-change recommendations, costs and other details, is due to Congress on Oct. 1. Seidule said the DOD secretary has until Jan. 1, 2024, to implement the plan.

Learn more

“Naming Commission announces Army base name recommendations,” news release, May 24, 2022, https://www.thenamingcommission.gov/press-center

The FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, https://www.congress.gov/116/plaws/publ283/PLAW-116publ283.pdf

“Warren delivers floor speech on her amendment to rename all bases and other military assets honoring the Confederacy,” news release, June 30, 2020, https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-delivers-floor-speech-on-her-amendment-to-rename-all-bases-and-other-military-assets-honoring-the-confederacy