Shared History

Panel recommends new names for nine military bases

Texas’ Fort Hood will be getting a new name. A congressional commission this week recommended new names for nine military bases named for Confederate Civil War figures.

President Donald Trump was against the idea and vetoed the legislation authorizing the renaming. But Congress voted overwhelmingly to override his veto.

The panel recommended Fort Hood — named for Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood — be renamed Fort Cavazos, after U.S. Army Gen. Richard Cavazos, a Texas-born veteran of both the Korean and Vietnam wars.

A couple of firsts among other installations, Fort Polk in Louisiana would be called Fort Johnson to honor African American World War I Sgt. William Henry Johnson who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. This would be the first base named for an African American.

Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia would become the first base named for a woman, Fort Walker, after Dr. Mary Walker, Medal of Honor winner and the Army’s first female surgeon.

Fort Bragg in North Carolina would be named for an American ideal rather than a person, taking the name Fort Liberty should the commission’s suggestions be approved.

The commissions narrowed down thousands of suggestions to come up with the list. Its full report now goes to Congress and the Department of Defense.

No doubt some will object to the renaming of the bases. They will claim it’s an attempt to “erase” history.

History happened. It can’t be erased. But remembering and honoring don’t always go together. Renaming these bases celebrates our history in a different way, one that all Americans can be proud to share.