Posted on Jun 22, 2015
Should US military bases named after Confederates be renamed?
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What do these US military bases have in common?
Fort Bragg
Fort Rucker
Fort Hood
Fort Lee
Fort Benning
Fort Gordon
Fort A.P. Hill
Fort Polk
Fort Pickett
Camp Beauregard (Operated by the Louisiana National Guard)
They are all named for Confederate generals. There’s been talk for years about whether this is appropriate, and now in wake of Charleston and the South Carolina Confederate flag, it’s coming up again.
Do you think these posts should be renamed to honor people who fought in the U.S. Army exclusively? Vote, and share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Take the Poll:
http://www.stripes.com/military-life/military-history/poll-should-us-military-bases-named-after-confederates-be-renamed-1.353890#
Fort Bragg
Fort Rucker
Fort Hood
Fort Lee
Fort Benning
Fort Gordon
Fort A.P. Hill
Fort Polk
Fort Pickett
Camp Beauregard (Operated by the Louisiana National Guard)
They are all named for Confederate generals. There’s been talk for years about whether this is appropriate, and now in wake of Charleston and the South Carolina Confederate flag, it’s coming up again.
Do you think these posts should be renamed to honor people who fought in the U.S. Army exclusively? Vote, and share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Take the Poll:
http://www.stripes.com/military-life/military-history/poll-should-us-military-bases-named-after-confederates-be-renamed-1.353890#
Posted in these groups: 
Confederate Flag
Confederate Flag
Edited 9 y ago
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 282
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I believe they should not. It is a part of our history, no matter if it was a bad part of United States history, it still happened. Would they rename the states who seceded from the United States? I think not.
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NO, this is ridiculous that we have become so politically correct and sensitive to anything that offends people that we want to wipe it off the history books. Everything in our past has made us the country that we are today. NO matter if you agree with the Civil War or not it was a battle that solidified us as a nation. The Confederate Generals were and are just as much American war heroes as the Union Generals. Isn't it time to quit being so hyper-sensitive to everything? No one thought twice when during the Super Bowl Beyoncé performed in support of the Black Panthers, one of the most violent groups in the 60's but no one is banning her. Is there a double standard when it comes to things that offend? I think so. Let's all just be Americans and be proud of our heritage.
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CPT Quentin von Éfáns-Taráfdar
You are correct that there is a double standard. The left would like to erase history and rewrite it in their own image - and it is not only in the US that this happening, here in Europe it is the same story.
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Absolutely NOT. Why is it that only in this country do we take historical events that occurred so long ago and use them to distract us from the calamity that is at our doorstep?
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CW3 Jim Norris
You know I agree with you.....this may very well be a bit of magician slight of hand.....good point, but dear Lord I always thought as a rule Americans where a bit smarter...
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Why, because some people who are so f'n PC want to revise or ignore certain parts of our nation's history?
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Not only No but hell no....Funny Story about Southern Officers in the Marines At a Marine Corps Ball after General Al Gray retired he was seated with all other Generals from the South i.e Gen Barrow Gen Wilson, & Gen. Chapman..so he was asked by a young 2nd Lt how did he like being outnumbered by Generals who were all decorated southern gentlemen. General Gray said "just fine Lt, I am from South New Jersey"
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CPT Quentin von Éfáns-Taráfdar
Very Funny! Though I was born in Hollywood, CA. my mother was from Texas and so were all of my American relatives and Texas is the state where I have lived the longest so I have always thought of my self as southern. While teasing one of my colleagues about being a Yankee she responded with "How can you say that you're not a a Southerner" I replied that I was so - I was from Southern California.
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SrA James Cannon
And you might consider, that there were several Confederate units raised in California during the war, such as the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles, Monte Mounted Rifles, Captain Ingram's Partisan Rangers, the Mason Henry Gang, etc.
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Should US military bases named after Confederates be renamed? (SGM Matthew Quick)
SGM, I was not alive during the Civil War, obviously, but I know as most do that your first loyalty was to your home, second was to your country. We have the benefit of many years of research and history records to know the true political reason for the Civil War. However, I give any Soldier, including Generals the benefit of the doubt when it comes to doing what a Soldier does. His second loyalty was to his brothers in arms and his unit. I believe that this war was propagandized by newspapers, posters, leaflets, and word of mouth. We must remember that there was no such thing as a telephone, internet, radio, or television. These men were Soldiers first, remember, and even General Robert E. Lee as the most accomplished general at the time was asked by the POTUS, President Lincoln to lead his Army against the Southern States succession and he turned down the President of the United States (can you imagine such a thing?) because his first loyalty was to his home and state. Most of us cannot identify with this today, because we don’t stay rooted in one place for very long, but those that still have large extended families and regularly attend family reunions of several hundred, may have some idea. Agriculture crops were the currency and your land was your livelihood. Most Southerners believed however wrongly that it was the war of northern aggression. As for Mr. John Burwell’s comments in the Stars and Stripes, I do not know how I would feel about this if I were a black man, his words, but I have Cherokee in my blood (great-great grandmother was full blooded Cherokee Native American) and my family fought for both sides, as the story goes; brother against brother or cousin against cousin. However, I also know that slaves and freed fought for both sides. I cannot see how equating the name of an American General, most of whom graduated from West Point and served honorably in the US Army (many against the native Americans under the US Flag out west), but resigned to serve their home and family in the War between the states to Adolf Hitler or Suddam, Hussein is fair to them at all. They did not make policy, they only took their orders and executed them to their utmost ability. Should we erase all reference to most of our founding fathers? I say change the names if you want, but I’m a Soldier and I’ll still be serving the Army, not someone’s name. I'll leave the politics to the politicians.
SGM, I was not alive during the Civil War, obviously, but I know as most do that your first loyalty was to your home, second was to your country. We have the benefit of many years of research and history records to know the true political reason for the Civil War. However, I give any Soldier, including Generals the benefit of the doubt when it comes to doing what a Soldier does. His second loyalty was to his brothers in arms and his unit. I believe that this war was propagandized by newspapers, posters, leaflets, and word of mouth. We must remember that there was no such thing as a telephone, internet, radio, or television. These men were Soldiers first, remember, and even General Robert E. Lee as the most accomplished general at the time was asked by the POTUS, President Lincoln to lead his Army against the Southern States succession and he turned down the President of the United States (can you imagine such a thing?) because his first loyalty was to his home and state. Most of us cannot identify with this today, because we don’t stay rooted in one place for very long, but those that still have large extended families and regularly attend family reunions of several hundred, may have some idea. Agriculture crops were the currency and your land was your livelihood. Most Southerners believed however wrongly that it was the war of northern aggression. As for Mr. John Burwell’s comments in the Stars and Stripes, I do not know how I would feel about this if I were a black man, his words, but I have Cherokee in my blood (great-great grandmother was full blooded Cherokee Native American) and my family fought for both sides, as the story goes; brother against brother or cousin against cousin. However, I also know that slaves and freed fought for both sides. I cannot see how equating the name of an American General, most of whom graduated from West Point and served honorably in the US Army (many against the native Americans under the US Flag out west), but resigned to serve their home and family in the War between the states to Adolf Hitler or Suddam, Hussein is fair to them at all. They did not make policy, they only took their orders and executed them to their utmost ability. Should we erase all reference to most of our founding fathers? I say change the names if you want, but I’m a Soldier and I’ll still be serving the Army, not someone’s name. I'll leave the politics to the politicians.
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