Which is more than stupid. I'll get to that momentarily.
The Commandant made a decision to remove the Confederate stuff from his bases. Ok, that's within his purview and authority to do so. My question would be the "why" such a thing was necessary. The article had referenced several incidents over the past several years. But it's not showing whether there was an uptick in such incidents compared to say the last 20-30 years. Every service has it's knuckleheads and every service is going to bounce someone for being a racist. I want to know if the trend is growing upwards or this was purely a move to appease the social justice warriors and show "we're doing something".
On to the main point, the idea the bases named after CSA leadership being renamed because of the side they supported in a Civil War is idiotic at best and poor taste at worst. Most of those Officers who's namesake is being used were loyal Union Officers well before being Confederate Officers and those who decided to be loyal to their individual states at the outbreak of the war. Robert E. Lee even opposed secession from the Union and only picked a side after heavy consideration. The country was a radically different place back in those times as the individual states had almost as much power as the federal government and soldiers were Virginians or Georgians first, Americans second. Most of the units involved didn't identify themselves as "United States Army" or "Confederate States Army", but instead the "3rd New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment of the Union Army" or "1st Alabama Cavalry of the Confederate Army." Unified national units only came out after the Civil War. State loyalty was first, national loyalty second in the minds of most which is why many fought for the Confederacy. They didn't fight to preserve slavery, they fought to preserve their homes against what they considered was an external threat.
Not even remembering, or more likely not mentioning, most of those figures were pardoned or granted amnesty by either President Lincoln and Johnson after the war.
No matter what, the different bases have made legacies for themselves now rather than their namesake. If someone was to bring up Fort Bragg in conversation, people would probably think "Airborne" first and not even have the first clue who General Braxton Bragg was. Or mention Fort Polk to any Army member and they automatically associate it with misery instead of with a Confederate General. I'd bet most people have zero clue who the bases are named after and only a select few would only get offended after learning Fort Hood was named for a Confederate General. Because those are the types that are always searching for something to be offended about.
If social justice warriors get offended over the namesake of a base, they really have no life and should shut up.
