The chair of the Commission on the Naming of Items of the Department of Defense that Commemorate the Confederate States of America or Any Person Who Served Voluntarily with the Confederate States of America — better known as the Naming Commission — reported they have received more than 27,000 suggestions of new names for nine Department of Defense installations and one U.S. Navy ship.
Commission Chair Retired Navy Admiral Michelle Howard and Vice Chair Retired Army Brig. General Ty Seidule updated reporters during a Sept. 30 virtual media roundtable.
MORE: Public Input Sought for Renaming Some Military Installations
Two Georgia posts — Fort Gordon and Fort Benning — are among those that may be renamed. The others are Fort A.P. Hill, Va.; Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Lee, Va.; Fort Pickett, Va.; Fort Polk, La.; and Fort Rucker, Ala. They are also deliberating the inclusion of recommendations for the Army’s Fort Belvoir in Virginia. Two ships are being considered: the USNS Maury and the USS Chancellorsville.
Fort Gordon was founded as Camp Gordon. It is named for John Brown Gordon, a major general in the Confederate Army who later served as governor of Georgia and as a U.S. senator.
Howard said some of the suggestions came from people who vented frustration because they feel the current name of the facilities is part of the history of their area.
“There are some folks who are distinctly opposed, and the verbiage they used is quite deliberate, and they make it clear they do not support the commission,” she said.
When the commission members visited Fort Bragg they were asked if the name could be changed from honoring Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg to instead honor his cousin Edward Bragg, who was a general in the Union Army. A similar question was asked when they visited Fort Gordon earlier this year.
“When we visited Fort Gordon, a member of the community said, ‘Hey, there’s a modern-day Medal of Honor recipient, and we could name it after him,’” Howard said. “There were other members of the community who then that stood up and said, ‘You know, if you do that, there are some of us who would like to see new names, and if you use the same name, even with a different human and a different context of time, then you almost undo the intention of the law.’”
According to the National Medal of Honor Museum, the recipient was Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, who served in Somalia in 1993.
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Howard said they realize in each community there are modern day soldiers who reflect the values and courage of military service and the communities.
Seidule said the community around Fort Benning was very engaged when the commission visited there.
“Their commanding general did a great job of bringing in a really diverse community, and we got to hear all of that,” he said. “It was a great engagement from Fort Benning and the Columbus community to tell us what they thought. We got an earful there, really constructive views on the way forward. They gave us a handful of names and many more came from the website.”
The Naming Commission will continue taking recommendations through Dec. 1. Suggestions can be submitted via the website.
After that, the commission will start towards the deliberation process, creating the actual form and mechanism for which pinpointing specific names, Howard said.
The commission will update the House Armed Services Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee on its progress in Oct. The final report is due by Oct. 1, 2022.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com.
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