The name change has finally occurred, and I am happy to report that every US Army base where I was stationed has had its Confederate Army soldier’s name removed and replaced with more admirable names.
Yes, Fort Bragg in North Carolina was among the first to ditch its name when it was renamed Fort Liberty. I spent six weeks in boot camp and another eight weeks as a “hold-over” awaiting a Secret Clearance to be approved to attend Officers Candidate School.
Meanwhile, the fort in Louisiana where I served as a second lieutenant at a basic training company was also changed from Fort Polk to Fort Johnson. It is to honor Sgt. William Henry Johnson, a Black hero of World War I, who was awarded the Medal of Honor nearly a century later.
Fort Polk is where I met my first wife, a Cajun girl who lived some hundred miles outside of New Orleans. She accompanied me to the Philadelphia area where we got married and awaited my return from the Vietnam War.
Fort Benning for Officers Candidate School and Jump School
But the biggest change was with my favorite camp of all time, Fort Benning, Georgia. It is not only where I spent six months in Officers Candidate School before being commissioned as an officer and a gentleman, but where I attended “Jump School” joining a small elite group of Infantry soldiers who earned our “wings” as paratroopers.
Fort Benning will now be known as Fort Moore. The new name is to honor Lt. Gen. Harold “Hal” Moore and his wife, Julia. During his 32 years of service beginning in 1945, Lt. Gen. Moore served all over the world and stateside. Officials say he and his wife embody the typical Army family with Lt. Moore representing the infantry and armor soldiers stations and Mrs. Moore embodying the sacrifices made by military families at the base. Army officials say together they were a unique “command team” living the courage, fighting spirit, and devotion to the welfare of the country and their families.
Veteran Recalls Officers Graduation Song
But the old Fort Benning will always be in my heart as I recall our graduation song:
“Far across the Chattahoochee. To the Upatoi. Stands our loyal Alma Mater, Benning’s School for Boys.
Forward ever. Backward never. Faithfully we strive. Toward our final destination. Follow me with pride.
When it’s time and we are called. To guard our country’s might. We’ll be there with heads held high. To lead in Freedom’s fight.
Yearning Ever. Failing never. To keep our country free. The call is clear. To keep our country free.“
Contoveros 
Thinking about this, I reckon it’s a symptom of the increasing insistence by US liberals that the Civil War was a fight between ‘good’ emancipists and ‘evil’ slavers.
Whether you believe the Civil War was fought for the benefit of oppressed people any more than any other American war that’s been justified that way, the soldiers on both sides fought for the same reasons soldiers always fight. A bit of ignorantly romantic heroics, a bit of fear of being branded a coward or traitor and the penalties that can arise from that, a bit of anxiety their loved ones and way of life was under threat and a lot of loyalty to the other poor suckers in the trenches alongside them.
I think it’s sad the political polarisation of the US that started the Civil War has now returned with sufficient force to yet again make enemies of those who wore the ‘wrong’ uniform so long ago.
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You’re right about putting on the uniform to fight for the party or group that you sincerely believe are on the right side if all that is good.
But history has taught us to investigate and explore the reasons behind going to war and perhaps later, denounce it as being totally wrong as we were with the Vietnam War.
But who knew when they were drafted and commissioned an officer that Ho Chi Minh was right and the US was wrong. That’s when I joined veterans against the war in my return from Vietnam.
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The OSS?
(BTW, the (North) Vietnamese Declaration of Independence was modeled on the US one.)
But I guess the real question is –
In the absence of any knowledge of the situation, why would anyone assume the country they just happen to have been born in was in the right?
It’s a bit like assuming your family’s religion happens to be the One True Faith or your local football team happens to be The Greatest Team in the Country – except those assumptions aren’t so likely to result in killing complete strangers or being killed by them.
At least in the Civil War it was possible for a Union recruit to imagine his home was at risk of being pillaged by Confederate soldiers or for a Confederate recruit to imagine the Union would release the slaves then stand by as they took revenge on their former masters. But did anyone in America ever seriously believe they were personally at risk from Vietnamese communism?
I think the first history and civics lesson every US student gets should include –
1) The people who kill more Americans than anyone else are – Americans.
2) The people who kill more non-Americans than anyone else are – Americans.
3) The country that imprisons the greatest number and proportion of its people is – America.
4) The country that has initiated more wars than any other over the last century is – America.
5) The country that has been at war for more than 90% of its history is – America.
They still might decide ‘my country right or wrong’, but at least they’ll be less likely to assume it’s right.
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Why did Great Britain send a bunch of criminals and alleged murderers to your home in Australia?
Now that is one helluva history question I’d like someone who is from that neck of the woods to possibly deal with rather than bad-mouth someone else’s country!
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I suspect my Aboriginal and British forbears would have different answers to that question. But it’s still a relevant one. 200 years ago Britain were the world champions at war crimes and human rights abuses while America was still learning the trade (mostly at the expense of Native Americans).
Mind you, a lot of Australians consider ourselves lucky because “we got the convicts, America got the Puritans”.
But a better question is “Why the f*** does Australia still abase itself before the US when it’s so often contrary our national interests and results in us collaborating in some of America’s most heinous crimes (including the Vietnam war)?”
I suspect the Brits have something to do with that too. They trained our elite classes to always put the interests of our colonial masters above those of our own people. That’s a lesson they learned well and still practice to this day, even though we still haven’t got around to replacing the Union Jack on our flag with the Stars and Stripes.
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BTW, if by ‘alleged murderers’ you mean the guards you’ve got a point. But Brits convicted of murder weren’t eligible for transportation to Australia. They got to be hanged and buried in their native land.
Australia’s convict settlers were mainly petty thieves, prostitutes, coin clippers and moonshiners. Even while still under sentence their standard of living and life expectancy was almost invariably higher in Australia than it had been in Britain. After serving their sentences the earlier ones were given grants of land (stolen from Aborigines) and became wealthy beyond any dreams they’d had in their mother country.
Of course the proximate reason Great Britain sent convicts to Australia was because following the US War of Independence the US stopped taking them. Ultimately Britain deported about 60,000 convicts to America and about 160,000 to Australia.
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I’d think more of it if they removed the names of all war criminals from US bases, fighting ships and military equipment and stripped them of their military and civil honors. Only pissing on the graves of dead Confederates sounds like victor’s justice to me.
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In addition to the above mentioned bases, I was also stationed at Fort Dix, NJ, for AIT (Advanced Individual Training, and Fort Benjamin Harrison in Panama where I learned to repel as part of jungle training offered there for the Vietnam War.
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My favorite name change might be Fort Moore – I mean, they are all great, but Fort Moore embodies a quite lovely aspect that includes the sacrifices of families as well. All of this makes me happy. We, as Americans, can do better. It just takes us admitting our mistakes and then, simply, making that change. Bravo!
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I agree. Particularly after learning that the soldier served in both the Korean War as well as the Vietnam War and was Airborne just like me.
His wife helped so many families deal with tragedies and accompanied her husband to army bases where she took part in aiding military families first hand.
I’ll vote for Fort Moore too!
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Thank you for your service. I hope these changes stand the test of time.
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Me too. I had called for the name changes some two years ago and can only hope the government makes them permanent.
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I am impressed by your Military experience, surpassed by your great writing to remind us of important historical events. These changes needed to be made to get that Confederacy out of America, it’s poison! Keep spreading truth and Light Mike!
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It is unbelievable Rebecca, that people in America are still waving the Confederate flag and going against everything that our nation has tried to secure for “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” in a more perfect union.
We will overcome their efforts and keep America open for all people no matter their political leanings.
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