(NewsGlobal.com)- The Pentagon is working to replace the names of any memorial, monument, street and/or sign at U.S. military bases that have a tie to the Confederacy, and 750 “potential targets” were named by a federal commission recently.
This is just the latest effort the Pentagon is taking to remove any references to the rebels that fought against the north in the Civil War.
The group responsible for identifying the potential names to be removed is colloquially called the Naming Commission, and it identified 750 items that might need a new name. Many of these were named after leaders of the Confederacy, including military officers, and many are located in military bases in the South.
Some are even located overseas, with a Navy vessel that’s stationed in Japan and a military base in Germany having names that tie back to the Confederacy.
More than 700 of the 750 total are located at Army bases, with about 30 being located at Navy bases and less than 20 at Air Force bases.
In a press release, the Naming Commission recently explained:
“This list is subject to change as we continue our work with the Department of Defense to identify all such assets across the service branches and the department.”
The Naming Commission will work over the next few months to decide how to pare down this list, if at all, before they issue a formal report to Congress, which is scheduled for October 1.
Michelle Howard, a retired admiral who is the Naming Commission’s chair, said the list will be continually updated as the commission researches the history of the names of different things on the bases.
As she said in the press release:
“This work is vital to understand the scope and estimated cost of renaming or removing Confederate-named assets, and will enable us to provide the most accurate report possible to Congress.”
Most of the items on the list are the names of streets and on signage. Some, though, are ships that the Navy or Army owns that are named after Confederate officers, figures or battles.
Some Army ships on the list include Mechanicsville, Malvern Hill, Harpers Ferry, Aldie and Chicahominy. Some of the Navy ship names on the list include USS Hunley, USS Stonewall Jackson, USS Chancellorsville and USNS Maury.
Just because an item is on the list doesn’t mean it will necessary be renamed. It just means, at this point, the Naming Commission is considering whether or not it would be appropriate to rename it.
In early March, the Naming Commission announced substitutions for the names of various Army installations across the country. From that list will come a formal plan on how it will rename these installations, which is expected to be handed over to Congress by the same October 1 deadline.
The installations on that list include Fort Gordon and Fort Benning in Georgia; Fort Pickett, Fort Lee and Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia; Fort Hood in Texas; Fort Rucker in Alabama; Fort Polk in Louisiana; and Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
