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The Trump administration restored the names of nine bases named after Confederate generals by finding other people with the same last names. While the move is probably legal, advocates say it dishonors a bipartisan attempt to turn the page on the military's segregationist past. Steve Walsh with WHRO in Norfolk, Virginia, has the story.
STEVE WALSH, BYLINE: Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg was the first African American to reach the rank of lieutenant general in the Army. In 2023, the 94-year-old received the rare honor of having a base named after him while he was still alive. I spoke with him shortly after the naming ceremony.
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ARTHUR GREGG: I think the success in the Army's integration of African Americans and other minorities has been a powerful influence in the wider society of America.
WALSH: When Gregg was stationed at Fort Robert E. Lee in 1950, he was denied access to the base's segregated officers club. In 2023, the club was renamed for him and Lt. Col. Charity Adams. She headed the only unit of African American women to deploy overseas during World War II.
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GREGG: I recognize that having my name on a major Army installation imposes additional responsibility on me, but I carry that responsibility with a great deal of pride.
WALSH: Gregg died in August 2024. Less than a year later, the Trump administration stripped his name from the base and did the same thing at eight other bases, finding new names which mimic those of Confederate generals that Congress had ordered be changed. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth explained the rationale to Congress in a heated exchange with Senator Tim Kaine, who questioned why they were removing the names of three bases in Virginia.
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PETE HEGSETH: Senator, as you know, this was never about the names of the bases they were renamed to. We are restoring...
TIM KAINE: So you don't challenge the worthiness...
HEGSETH: ...All bases...
KAINE: You don't - you - OK...
HEGSETH: ...All bases to their original names.
KAINE: To the Confederate names.
HEGSETH: This is not about erasing history.
KAINE: OK.
WALSH: Not erasing history - in fact, his office came up with a way to sidestep a law that forbids the Pentagon from naming anything to honor the Confederacy. Retired Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule cochaired the renaming commission, which chose the new names from 33,000 suggestions.
TY SEIDULE: We had buried the Confederate names in 2023, and he has unearthed those traitors, I think, even if they're zombies.
WALSH: The new letterhead for Gregg-Adams lists the home of Army logistics simply as Fort Lee. The new namesake is supposed to be Fitz Lee, a Black soldier awarded the Medal of Honor after the Spanish-American War. Adding to the confusion, Fitz Lee was also the name of a Confederate cavalry officer who was the nephew of Robert E. Lee.
SEIDULE: What the law says is you can't commemorate Confederates. I think it breaks the spirit of the law, but I'm not sure that it breaks the law.
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KERRY WASHINGTON: (As Charity Adams) They did not send us because they thought we could do it. We are here because they are sure we cannot.
WALSH: Lt. Col. Adams is among the most prominent names being removed. After being largely unheralded after World War II, her unit, the Six Triple Eight, is the subject of a recent Hollywood movie starring Kerry Washington.
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MIKE JOHNSON: The entire Six Triple Eight are great American patriots, loyal to a nation that for far too long failed to return that favor.
WALSH: In April, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson presided over the ceremony to award the unit the Congressional Gold Medal. So far, the Army has not announced a dedication ceremony for the newly redesignated Fort Lee. For NPR News, I'm Steve Walsh.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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