Johnson was a member of the famous Harlem Hellfighters that fought under French Army command during World War I. Barfoot, who received the Medal of Honor for his actions with the 45th Infantry Division in Italy in 1944.įort Polk, Louisiana, is renamed Fort Johnson to commemorate Army Sgt. Charity Adams was the first African American officer in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in World War II and led the first African-American WAAC unit to serve overseas.įort Pickett, Virginia, is renamed Fort Barfoot in honor of Army Tech Sgt. Gregg was an African-American soldier who rose from private to three-star during a career in military logistics. Spotlight: Commemorating the Korean WarFort Lee, Virginia, is renamed after two soldiers and will become Fort Gregg-Adams. That has now expired and the renaming of the bases may proceed apace. 1, 2022 and there was a 90-day period for public comment. The commission finished their mission on Oct. The commission issued its first report in May 2022, which addressed renaming Army bases. Trump vetoed the legislation because of the presence of the commission, and huge bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress overrode his veto. Congress established the commission in the National Defense Authorization Act of fiscal 2021. Many people protested systemic racism and pointed to Confederate statues and bases as part of that system. It was also the height of the Jim Crow Laws in the South, so there was no consideration for the feelings of African Americans who had to serve at bases named after men who fought to defend slavery.Īll this changed in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. That the men for whom the bases were named had taken up arms against the government they had sworn to defend was seen by some as a sign of reconciliation between the North and South. Some Army bases, established in the build-up and during World War I, were named for Confederate officers in an effort to court support from local populations in the South.
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