Pentagon renaming bases, ships, monuments referencing Confederacy
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The 108-year-old monument of Southern troops marching to war with enslaved people at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia is already being disassembled by crew.
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Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder (WTAP)
The Department of Defense (DoD) confirmed as of last week that Pentagon officials are planning on renaming military infrastructure tied to the Confederate States of America at the beginning of 2024, which includes nine Army bases, two Navy ships, and more than 1,000 items on American military installations.
According to Task and Purpose, Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on Thursday: “Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante, today directed all DOD organizations to begin full implementation of the Commission on the Naming of Items of the Department of Defense, a.k.a. the Naming Commission and those recommendations,”
The 108-year-old monument of Southern troops marching to war with enslaved people at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia is already being disassembled by crew members.
Military.com cited Ryder as saying: “I think we are confident, you know, each of the services has clear instructions in terms of what it is that they need to focus on, and where the secretary is confident that the services are and will continue to take that seriously,” but Ryder did not announce the total cost. which the Naming Commission’s final report estimated to be nearly $62.5 million.
West Point takes the initiative
Approximately $21 million is planned to be put toward renaming the nine Army bases located in Southern states named after Confederate figures, including forts Benning, Gordon, Bragg, Hood, Rucker, Polk, AP Hill, Pickett, and Lee. Another $41 million will be designated for roads, signs, buildings, and street names.
It is reported that Commission officials intend to rename Fort Benning to Fort Moore, after Lt. Gen. Hal Moore, who served during the Vietnam War. However, new names for the two Navy ships, identified as the USS Chancellorsville and the USNS Maury, are yet to be revealed.
The USS Chancellorsville was named after the Confederate army won a battle during the Civil War and the USNS Maury was named after Matthew Fontaine Maury who sailed for the Confederacy.
This comes after the 220-year-old West Point Academy officials removed monuments and objects in December that “commemorate or memorialize the Confederacy.”
It began a “multi-phase” process over the holidays to abolish all 13 references and monuments at the Academy that glorify the Confederacy, including a portrait of former West Point Superintendent Gen. Robert E. Lee.
In September of 2021, the largest Confederate monument in the US, which was a statue of Lee, was removed in Richmond, Virginia.
Then-president Donald Trump denounced the move, expressing that the takedown of the statue resembles the downfall of American culture. Moreover, he accused left "extremists" of demolishing the history of the state. He added that Americans ought not to permit that.
