Trump “Will Not Consider” Renaming US Military Bases

NPR reports:

The first of these camps in the South were Camp Lee in Virginia, named after the Confederate commander Robert E. Lee, and Camp Beauregard in Louisiana, after another confederate general, Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard.

Then came a steady stream of bases bearing the last names of rebel generals, eventually 10 in all, created over the course of World War I and World War II. Among them: Fort Bragg, N.C. (Braxton Bragg), Fort Benning, Ga., (Henry Benning) and Fort Hood, Texas, (John Bell Hood).

Now, as the nation erupts in protests over police treatment of African Americans, these base names honoring Confederate leaders are coming under scrutiny — again.

It has been suggested that we should rename as many as 10 of our Legendary Military Bases, such as Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Benning in Georgia, etc. These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2020

…history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom. The United States of America trained and deployed our HEROES on these Hallowed Grounds, and won two World Wars. Therefore, my Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2020