Panel gathering input on new military base names
WASHINGTON – The commission tasked with renaming Department of Defense installations that commemorate Confederate leaders spent the summer visiting military bases across the South to meet local community leaders and gather input.
Their first base visit was to Fort Hood in Texas, retired Navy Adm. Michelle Howard, chair of the commission, said Thursday. Fort Hood is named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, who commanded the Texas 4th Infantry during the Civil War.
“They were reticent at first, and I think they thought we were from the Beltway,” Howard said, referring to the world of Washington, D.C., political elites and policymakers. “Once they realized we’re like them, we come from different communities where the base is important, there was a shift in the dialogue and more receptivity in hearing what the commission had to say.”
The commission of veterans from different branches of the military and even a sitting congressman – Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga. – has also begun to accept renaming suggestions from the public, to the tune of 27,000 since the beginning of September. Howard said Master Sgt. Roy Benavidez’s name has been a popular submission.
“There are some commonality of names, from (Union Army Gen. William Tecumseh) Sherman, Benavidez and others,” she said. “I would say right now we’re probably talking about 5,000 names where there’s repetition of names. That’s still a lot of names.”
Benavidez was a Texas native, Mexican American Vietnam War Green Beret veteran and five-time Purple Heart recipient who was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 for his heroic actions to save several wounded comrades in Vietnam.
A number of organizations, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), have encouraged the commission to name a mainland Army base after a Latino military hero.
In August, the Hispanic Caucus wrote a letter to the commission to recommend Fort Bragg in North Carolina be renamed after Benavidez and Fort Hood be renamed after Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, the first Mexican American four-star general.
Fort Hood and Fort Bragg are on a list of 10 Army posts under review by the commission. Fort Hood’s 335-square mile base houses nearly 40,000 active duty service members, making it the largest active duty armored post in the U.S. Armed Forces. The III Armored Corps and III Corps, elite and highlytrained fighting forces, are stationed there.
Howard said the commission visited Fort Hood and the rest of the bases to gather feedback from local communities on the commission’s process and preferences for potential new names.
“We have heard directly from local chambers of commerce, historical and genealogy societies, Rotary Clubs, school board officials, local national special interest groups, church leaders, businesses and many other organizations,” Howard said. “And on top of that, we’ve met with individual active, reserve, retired and other former service members.”