The Congressional Commission tasked with renaming Army bases currently named after Confederate military figures released its recommended changes Tuesday. Here are the changes according to NBC News:
- Fort Lee, Virginia — named after the Confederate commander, Gen. Robert E. Lee — to Fort Gregg-Adams, after retired Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams. Gregg, who served in Korea and Vietnam, and Adams, who served in World War II, are Black.
- Fort Gordon, Georgia — named after Confederate Gen. John Brown Gordon — to Fort Eisenhower, after President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who led Allied forces in Europe as a general in World War II.
- Fort Hood, Texas — named after a Confederate general best known for racking up high body counts while launching unsuccessful assaults — to Fort Cavazos, after Gen. Richard Cavazos, a Texas native who served in Vietnam and became the first Hispanic American four-star general in the U.S.
- Fort Polk, Louisiana — named after a Confederate general who was killed in action during the Civil War — to Fort Johnson, after Sgt. William Henry Johnson. Johnson, who was Black, was a World War I hero who once single-handedly fought off two dozen German soldiers.
- Fort Pickett, Virginia, to Fort Barfoot, after Van Barfoot, a technical sergeant who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroics in fighting off German troops in World War II. Barfoot eliminated three German machine gun nests before he used a bazooka to take out a tank in a single day in May 1944.
- Fort Rucker, Alabama, to Fort Novosel, after Medal of Honor winner Michael Novosel, an Army helicopter pilot who was credited with rescuing 29 South Vietnamese troops under heavy fire in October 1969.
- Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, to Fort Mary Edwards Walker, who became the first female Army surgeon while treating Union troops during the Civil War. She was the country’s first female Medal of Honor winner.
