Posted on Jun 12, 2020
CPT Ronald Scherick
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I grew up in New York and If I was alive back then I would have fought to save the union and abolish slavery. Having said that I went to school in W.Va. for 8 years and served in the army in VA. at Ft LEE. I have incite into both sides . My time at Ft Lee is a part of my life whose memories I cherish. When these places were named the country was still in healing and to the southern families their leaders were as important to them as George Washington was to the original Americans who fought for their freedom . In mending the country after the civil war the south was allowed to honor their history. You do not have to like it but you cant change history just by changing the names. We have learned from our past and come a long way to write the wrong of slavery . Racism will never be totally eliminated some people will always hate to make themselves feel superior to others. There is still antisemitism and it has been around since ancient times . I would like to hear how you feel and if you served in the bases that are at risk of a name change how do you feel about it.
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SSG Dennis R.
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It is long overdue. They were traitors to this nation.
Replace the statues with those worth remembering. Rename the bases for those who served with honor to the United States, not the Confederacy.
I was stationed in W. Germany for 7 years. Nowhere is there a monument to the Nazis.
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CW2 Electronic Warfare Technician
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TSgt (Join to see) - Who originally stole that beret from tankers....
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TSgt Infantryman
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Thanks I had never heard that. I was never a Ranger but as a LRRP with K Com 75th Inf i worked with many Rangers and really felt for them when they had to take off their black beret. It just was not right. But they were Rangers and they did as ordered and marched on.
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MAJ Legal Jerkwad
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MAJ Byron Oyler - Fine. Let's build a recreation of Andersonville, and we can take some of the old plantations (which were nothing more than genteel 19th century concentration camps) and show how people treated other people.
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Sgt Jim Mullins
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Everyone should read the book "Andersonville".
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LTC Hardware Test Engineer
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There is a significant dollar figure associated with renaming all these bases. We're talking 10s , if not hundreds, of millions of dollars. Is it really worth it? I would be willing to bet that 95+% of the population doesn't even know these bases are named for Confederate Generals.
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SPC John Tacetta
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DOD is getting $14 trillion in 2020. It would be a drop in the bucket. Get some slacking enlisted personnel on it if you want to make that penny squeak. Better than painting rocks white!
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SSG Roger Ayscue
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CSM Thomas Ray - Damn Right CSM! Once again we play out the "Wag the Dog" scenario.
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TSgt Infantryman
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MAJ (Join to see) - Sept 4 2021 Yes a lot has changed
Biden has stranded 100s of Americans and thousand of allies to be slaughtered. America has no honor. Biden and Milley should not even have a shitter named for them.
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Sgt Jim Mullins
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Biden sucks
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Sgt Jim Mullins
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Leave the bases alone. In my ancestry,I have ancestors that fought for the Confederates and the Union. Also, I had ancestors that had slaves and did not have slaves. Its history, it had nothing to do with me. Banning the movie "Gone with Wind" is just stupid. When are we going to start burning books?? I agree with you, there will always be racism and it is wrong. Where/when I grew up, blacks and whites, were pretty much kept separate. The only black person I knew was a janitor at the high school. I enlisted in the marines in 1963 and met a lot people from all walks of life, Catholics, Jews, Orientals, Blacks, northerners etc., and found out people are just people regardless of race, religion, beliefs, etc.
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How do you feel about renaming the bases named for confederate generals ?
LTC Hardware Test Engineer
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it's all about consistency. If you're offended because a military base is named after a Confederate General but you drink Coke (which was invented by a Confederate LTC) you are a hypocrite. Either you're offended by the Confederacy or you're not. You don't get to pick and choose based on convenience or personal preference.
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MAJ Legal Jerkwad
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Red herring. Robert E. Lee did great things for Washington College to the extent that they added his name to the front gate (Washington and Lee). I think that's fine, and his record post-bellum supports the renaming. However, I don't think that a Fort Lee is really appropriate, given that he committed treason in defense of slavery and owned slaves with the rest of them. The Confederate LTC that invented Coca-Cola wasn't named Coca, was he? Oh wait, that was the principal active ingredient - cocaine!
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CSM Thomas Ray
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Most people that served on these bases have no idea who they were named after, it is more of follow the mob mentality
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LTC Hardware Test Engineer
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no one was offended until the media told them they should be offended.
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MAJ Legal Jerkwad
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I always knew and found it deeply offensive. I grew up in Texas and it blew my mind when I visited the state Capitol to find that atrocious monument to the Confederacy on the front yard, especially considering how they deposed Sam Houston (a true Texas hero) for opposing secession.
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TSgt Infantryman
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So you are the 1 in 10,000 we are changing the world for? Which letter are you LGBTQFUBAR...........?
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MAJ Legal Jerkwad
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Robert E. Lee was one of the least (morally) bad Confederate generals, was a competent wartime leader, and in his favor he made a concerted effort to heal the wounds of the Civil War after it was over. However, he was still a slave owner who fought against the US Army to defend the "peculiar institution." Most of the other ones were not only traitors but horrible human beings and lousy military leaders to boot (Pickett, Bragg, Hood). General Lee believed that there should not be any Confederate memorials, and that the conflict was best left in the past.

The naming of military installations in the Southern states as well as the erection of Confederate memorials mostly happened during the early 20th century as an initiative of the Daughters of the Confederacy. It was more about making a statement in favor Jim Crow during that time period than anything to do with the Civil War or heritage. The South absolutely did not fight for freedom or States' Rights. The Confederacy was a single-issue country, and that issue was chattel slavery. The military posts were built as the nation was preparing for World War I and had massively expanding training facilities all over the country, but especially in the South where the training year is much longer. Local politicians, when not busy restricting the rights of Black Americans via Jim Crow segregation laws or just engaging in outright lynchings worked with the Daughters of the Confederacy to name the new installations after local military notables. Thus, Braxton Bragg, North Carolinian; Leonidas Polk, Louisianan; John Bell Hood, Texan. There are better candidates in every case. Think MSG Roy Benavidez (MOH recipient - Korea) instead of FT Hood, GEN James Gavin (CDR 82d ABN, made all 4 combat jumps with the Division in WW2) for FT Bragg, GEN Russel Honore (CG in charge of Hurricane Katrina response) for FT Polk. All of them real Americans who served their country and didn't commit treason in defense of slavery.
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TSgt Infantryman
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If I understand correctly the Emancipation Proclamation 2 years into the civil war was to weaken the Confederacy more than to free the slaves who were tending to the farm while the owners went off to fight.
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Sgt Jim Mullins
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President Washington, Jefferson, etc were Slavers!!! Should their statues be taken down, the Washington Monument and our capital be remaned!!!
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MAJ Legal Jerkwad
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You don’t understand correctly, zoomie
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Sgt Jim Mullins

Don’t be fatuous, Jeffrey
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SPC Herold Bush
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bragg - Fort alvin york or roy benavidez
York was in the 82nd Inf Division, forerunner to the 82nd Airborne
Benavidez was a Green Beret awarded MoH

hood - fort Eduardo C. Gomez
1st Cav MoH , cradle a .30 cal machine in his bare arms

rucker - fort doolittle / fort ed freeman both MoH Aviators

ap hill - fort Demas Craw, Pierpont Hamilton, William Wilbur. or Paul Ray Smith
AP was training ground for Operation Torch and use to be super center for Engineer Officer Candidate School Training
Craw, Hamilton and Wilbur awarded MoH during operation Torch
Smith was an engineer awarded MoH

lee - fort George Watson
home of the quartermaster corp, quartermaster awarded MoH , sacrificed himself well saving numerous comrades

pickett - fort EARLE D. GREGORY or FRANK D. PEREGORY
Pickett is a home of VA National Guard and WWII training site
Gregory and Peregory only two memebers of the VA NG to win MoH

gordon - fort Albert James Myer or Charles E. Kilbourne or york
home of signal corp, Myer and Kilbourne Signal Corp MoH
York trained here.

polk - fort Donald P. Sloat or Milton L. Olive III
Vietnam training center Sloat trained at Ft Polk Vietnam MoH
Olive (part of base already named for him) Vietnam MoH

benning - fort Roy Benavidez or Gary Gordon
Benavidez Green Beret
Gary Gordon Delta MoH Somali

beaugarud - fort Ronald J. Shurer or Sherman ....
Ok Shurer is just a badass no connection
Sherman was first Superintendent of the school that became beaugarud

that was pretty easy and each is historical accurate and has significance to that base
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SPC John Tacetta
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I can't vote you up enough! As a former grunt I love Fort Gordon for Fort Benning. Just sounds right.
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SFC Quinn Chastant
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I responded to this type of question in another forum and made my response specific to one individual facility, Camp Beauregard in LA. I replied with a history lesson on the P.G.T. Beauregard which included his post civil war position of support for civil rights and Suffrage for the former slaves. Even former Union General Rosencranz was suprised to a degree by that turn of events. Basically former USMA Superintendent Beauregrad reformed himself in a time when such reform was anathema for some former Confederate Officers. So when placed both in context of his performance as a Military Officer of the era, and his latter disposition towards civil rights and Suffrage, O stated perhaps his is one of the few which should be not be renamed under the currently driven political discussions.
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MAJ Legal Jerkwad
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Beauregard and Joe Johnston are alright.
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LTC Program Manager
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I'm not a fan of renaming bases. These bases were named for generals from that state, reuniting a nation that was reshaped by a war. These Generals were not disloyal to their countries as at the time the State was viewed as the sovereign and the Civil War changed that dynamic. The war was clearly fought over slavery but slavery was legal in the US before, during and after the war. The legal question answered by the war was "do states have the right to leave" unfortunately a million lives were lost to force states to stay under a government they no longer consented to be governed by. I wonder how long it would have taken for slavery to end and what path our nation would have taken if the US would have peacefully allowed the south to separate handing over Fort Sumter and other Sothern bases without firing a shot. Would it have speed up the end of slavery in the north? When would slavery have ended in the south? How different would our country be with a million lives saved.
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LTC Program Manager
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MAJ (Join to see) the oath in 1778:
"I, _____ do acknowledge the United States of America to be free, independent and sovereign states, and declare that the people thereof owe no allegiance or obedience, to George the third, king of Great Britain; and I renounce, refuse and abjure any allegiance or obedience to him: and I do swear (or affirm) that I will, to the utmost of my power, support, maintain and defend the said United States, against the said king George the third and his heirs and successors, and his and their abettors, assistants and adherents, and will serve the said United States in the office of _____ which I now hold, with fidelity, according to the best of my skill and understanding. So help me God."

Changed in 1789:
"I, A.B., do solemnly swear or affirm (as the case may be) that I will support the constitution of the United States."
The second part read:

"I, A.B., do solemnly swear or affirm (as the case may be) to bear true allegiance to the United States of America, and to serve them honestly and faithfully, against all their enemies or opposers whatsoever, and to observe and obey the orders of the President of the United States of America, and the orders of the officers appointed over me."
The next section of that chapter specified that

"the said troops shall be governed by the rules and articles of war, which have been established by the United States in Congress assembled, or by such rules and articles of war as may hereafter by law be established."
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MAJ Legal Jerkwad
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LTC (Join to see)

And after 1789 it was changed to swear allegiance to the Constitution. The officers who joined the CSA broke their oaths.
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LTC Program Manager
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MAJ (Join to see) - Where in the Constitution does it say a state cannot vote to split from the union? It doesn't.

The tenth amendment says "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."

The south had a strong legal argument for succession
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SSG Roger Ayscue
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LTC (Join to see) - What is the difference between the Southern states leaving the Union because they disagreed with the direction and the policies of part of the Union and by officials that they did not elect or support than to, let's say for point of argument ... The Republic of China Better known as Taiwan, who seceded from the People's republic of China because they disagreed with the direction and the policies of part of the government of China and by officials that they did not elect or support?
SO, if it was acceptable for Taiwan to secede from Red China then it should have been acceptable for the South to do the same. Oh the Hypocrisy!
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Sgt Jude Eschete
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Being from Louisiana, the Confederacy was a 4-5 year period where southern splintered off to fight a war over the rights to own another human being. A war in which they lost. A war with more American casualties than any other conflict in our history. The Union was being nice when they let the Confederacy honor their leaders.

The people who are holding on to the Confederate "Heritage" (I wouldn't call 4-5 years a heritage), continue to dehumanize minorities and enact violence on them. So apparently being nice wasn't enough. America loves symbolism, so renaming bases and taking down confederate statues sends a message, hate isn't accepted, it's time to move on from a failed attempt to separate based on owning another human, and you're either a part of the solution or you are a part of the problem.

Racism has gone on for too long, and it's obvious that as long as we try to play the game of "tolerance" with the people using the Confederacy as a symbol of pride, they will continue to hurt American citizens with their intolerance.
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Sgt Jude Eschete
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Sgt Jim Mullins - I'm not sure if you are being serious here, but the Confederacy isn't my history. I don't claim it and I reject it. You don't see people who are descendants of German Nazi's wholesale claiming as part of their history and flying flags and using their symbols publicly. Anyone who claims the history of ownership of slaves as their history is currently the problem with America today.

This history should always be taught so that we should learn from it, but nobody should be honoring traitorous losers who thought they had a god-given right to own another human.

Also, burning books? I'm not going to argue against a red herring diversionary tactics.
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SPC John Tacetta
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It is illegal in Germany to glorify the Nazi era, deny the Holocaust or sport any Nazi regalia. You will definitely be charged with a crime if you fly a swastika. The Germans are quite emphatic when they say "Never Again" and fight right wing extremism with particular vigor.
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TSgt Infantryman
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Sgt Jude Eschete - How about CRT? Isn't that same same racism of a different color?
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Sgt Jude Eschete
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TSgt (Join to see) - I don't have time for your "Whatabout-isms" The confederacy and all of it's symbols represent racism and the right to own slaves, anything trying to excuse it is pathetic.
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SSgt Investigative Analyst
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Edited >1 y ago
We had a Confederate memorial here at Linn Park in Birmingham that was defaced and removed in response to the George Floyd incident. The obelisk was funded by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1900, and erected in 1905. On the north side, it had been inscribed, in part, with to the Confederate Soldier & Sailor. Until 1 June 2020, it had been up for 115 years.

As much as I can, I understand the derision that such monuments cause. But it was a memorial for fallen professional soldiers. Take it down. Fine. Downtown Birmingham was probably a bad place for it anyway. But trying to destroy it dishonors the troops it was erected to remember.
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LTC Hardware Test Engineer
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SFC Kelly Fuerhoff - if they were put up to intimidate the black communities, why weren't they put up IN the black communities?
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MAJ Legal Jerkwad
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LTC (Join to see) - well, black folks who came into downtown would see the confederate monuments. Sends a message - that ain't your town.
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SPC John Tacetta
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Send the memorials to the local cemeteries where they belong, let the museums take what they want and sell off the rest to scrappers or private individuals willing to commit to keep them out of the public eye.
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TSgt Robert Veach
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in destroying our history, you are telling future generations "it never happened" so you are replacing a lie with a lie? People who want this are morons and uneducated, they are only thinking of themselves and can care less about anyone else, this is what Americans have become, and because of it they are not welcome anywhere in the world ( I have traveled all around the world for 50 years and I see it every where I go) Because of the current state of affairs in the U.S. I never tell anyone that I am an American.
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SSgt Abraham Santiago
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CPT. Scherick I am opposed to this idea of a name change and also destroying our state and national monuments and statutes. I was born in New York and raised in New Jersey. Removing monuments and removing Confederate flags does not change our history. I'm proud to fly the American flag alongside the Confederate flag or any historical flag that reflects our history. We are Americans and that link is what makes us who we are. We memorialize the dead because they were Americans who died in a battle and they were given that honor to be buried and acknowledged. Hate and prejudice has been around for thousands of years, it is part of our DNA.
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SPC John Tacetta
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I was conflicted at first because of my nostalgia for training and serving on these posts. As a young grunt I really never gave any consideration to the history - they were just names of places that I didn't even associate with a person. But upon careful consideration my mind has turned and I now believe that renaming these posts is truly the right thing to do. They never should have been so named in the first place and really are an insult to the Union soldiers that died in the Civil War and the black community at large. To the victor go the spoils.
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CPL Sheila Lewis
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A competent Military is vital in today's world and the bases are ok as they are. What needs to change is the hate too many people have.
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Sgt Jim Mullins
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Leave the military bases and monuments alone. Soon there will be no history of the Civil War. Now people want to banish the Movie "Gone with the Wind". Might as well burn the books on slavery.
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Sgt Jim Mullins
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1SG Mark Flowers - Unless those that destroy historic monuments , the videos, books, documentaries, etc., etc., an also be destroyed. I am not being dramatic. History will prove me right.
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Sgt Jim Mullins
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By the way, 1sgt Flowers, Thanks for your service, Semper Fi
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TSgt Infantryman
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It is total BS. We need to learn from our history. Next the bible will be forbidden because slaves are told to obey their owners
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SSG Dennis R.
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Learning from history does not mean erecting monuments to traitorous losers.
As long as bibles are clearly marked as fantasy-fiction storybooks and not factual information from an invisible sky creature, read one all you want.
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CMSgt Virgil Horsley - I believe his point in saying it should be classified as fiction is that many people take the bible as actual straight up fact/non-fiction instead of a book of guidelines for governance/being a good person told in the style of fables and tales to better promote all ages and its own survival.
It is the skewed notion that religion cannot be labelled as "fiction" which lets people believe its 100% true......which it is not, no matter what good feelings and help it provides people.
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SFC Robert Walton
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HAHAHAHA I have to react to this one. I think we should just leave history where it is at most folk have never followed enough of it to make a difference anyway. It was my understanding the States Named them and everyone was okay with that. Now many say OMG that's so offensive we must change it, when the people complaining would have never noticed until someone else brought it to their attention. Our collective time and money could be better use teaching History all of it AGAIN from the books and historical records. Then and only then let the states figure it out AGAIN. Maybe just maybe we could get a balance of North and South named FT's that most reflects the History of the Civil War. Maybe later rename one after the Holocaust. Right now you can't get the Federal Goberment to agree on anything. JMTC
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Lt Col Jim Coe
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I am concerned about the reason the Army Installations are being renamed. It appears to be a version of political correctness pushed by the Left to erase parts of US History. If we edit our history to take out parts that are now shameful or at best unsavory, then we miss the opportunity to learn from these events. Thus we are likely to repeat the errors of the past.

I do think the Army has many service members worthy of having an installation named after them. Senior leaders from WWII, Korea, and Vietnam along with Medal of Honor winners provide an ample number of potential names. In addition I offer GEN Ann Dunwoody as the new namesake for Ft Lee, VA. Ft Lee is important in the logistics arena. GEN Dunwoody was the first female Army General (O-10) and the first female O-10 in the US Armed Forces. She was commander Army Materiel Command, Commander Combined Army Support Command, and Commander Military Traffic Management Command (later the Army Surface Deployment and Distribution Command). Her distinguished career in Army Logistics makes her a great namesake for an installation centered on logistics.
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Lt Col Jim Coe
Lt Col Jim Coe
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Sgt Jude Eschete but the Nazi death camps are now tourist attractions. I’ve visited three. Sad. I was heartened to see German high school age students getting a guided tour. Never Again!
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Lt Col Jim Coe
Lt Col Jim Coe
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SFC Kelly Fuerhoff I think it’s part of the hate America first campaign the Left is following. Their version of US history is our country was racist, sexist, and exploited the environment from its inception. Therefore it must be thrown away and replaced with a Socialist utopia. Go read George Orwell’s forward to 1984.
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Sgt Jude Eschete
Sgt Jude Eschete
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Lt Col Jim Coe The tours are great to remind people of what happened, it's educational. The death camps aren't being honored, but are being used as an example. Statues and base names (to me) are a form of honoring someone who doesn't deserve it.

Also to your other comment, America definitely was racist and sexist. Women were second class citizens and not allowed to vote until 1920, they have barely been allowed to vote for 100 years now. Black men had the right to vote before black or white women. Women weren't allowed to own property until 1848, prior to that if their husband died, the property was given to a male relative if they didn't have sons.

Black people being traded as slaves long before this country was even a thought in anyone's mind. Many of the founding fathers kept slaves and wanted to continue keeping slaves. We can argue that they were a product of their time all we want, but they still kept humans as property.

I agree that we should never try to wipe the books clean, but that doesn't mean we don't relegate things to a museum rather than public display and reverence. Heck, may statues didn't even get erected until the 1900s as a way to intimidate black communities in those areas.

I'm registered as an independent but I have to agree that siding with the Confederacy heritage is to, unfortunately, be on the wrong side of history. I love being an American and I love the rights granted to us by the Constitution, but too many people are clinging to a history that involves a time that people tried to leave the country and disregard said constitution.
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SPC John Tacetta
SPC John Tacetta
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Sgt Jude Eschete - You beat me to it.
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SGT Information Technology Specialist
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I have other things to worry about...like my job and my kids.
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