ARMY BASE RENAMED FOR NATIVE AMERICAN WAR HERO
Base is first of nine to have Confederate name replaced
It was a name synonymous with failure. More than 80 years ago, an Army base in Blackstone, Va., was named for George E. Pickett, the defeated Confederate general who led the disastrous “Pickett’s charge” at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Now the base is the first of nine named for a Confederate to be redesignated by the end of this year. On Friday, Fort Pickett became Fort Barfoot, in honor of Col. Van Barfoot, a World War II hero and a Medal of Honor recipient.
Col. James C. Shaver Jr., the base’s garrison commander, said that it was an honor to be the first base renamed and that Fort Barfoot was now the first Army base in the continental United States to bear the name of a Native American soldier.
The ceremony was the culmination of a yearslong effort to purge the symbols of the Confederacy from the military. The nine Army bases were originally named for Confederates during the Jim Crow era.
The issue had ignited a political flashpoint between President Donald Trump and Congress. Amid a wave of demonstrations for racial justice in the summer of 2020, Trump refused to allow the bases to be renamed, going so far as to veto the annual defense authorization bill that included the renaming provision. Congress ultimately forced the measure through, overriding the veto.
“History is history. It can’t be rewritten. It shouldn’t be rewritten. But there’s a difference between writing or rewriting history and choosing who to honor,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
A commission established by Congress then recommended new names for the bases, selecting a diverse array of American warriors, including women, Black and Hispanic soldiers and Barfoot, a Choctaw who served 34 years in the Army. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the changes to be carried out by the end of 2023. The Navy renamed two ships this month as part of the initiative.