Former Secretary of Defense Gates comes out in favor of re-naming the Army bases currently named for a bunch of Confederate losers and traitors who, BTW and thank Heaven, lost.
His PR people probably could have coached him up a bit:
“The events since the killing of George Floyd present us with an opportunity where we can move forward to change those bases,” Mr. Gates said in an interview. “It’s always puzzled me that we don’t have a Fort George Washington or a Fort Ulysses S. Grant or a Fort Patton or a facility named for an African-American Medal of Honor recipient.
Jiminy, don't offer three white guys and a player to be named later! Do the homework and pick a name or two. Black Medal of Honor winners are here. Don't spend too much time looking for a general - the highest ranking officers are Lt. Col. Rogers and Capt. Pitt of Vietnam. The Civil War provides many candidates and a number of Master Sergeants - Fort Fleetwood has a nice ring to it.
And Lt. Baker of WWII sounds like Audie Murphy on steroids:
For extraordinary heroism in action on 5 and 6 April 1945, near Viareggio, Italy. Then Second Lieutenant Baker demonstrated outstanding courage and leadership in destroying enemy installations, personnel and equipment during his company's attack against a strongly entrenched enemy in mountainous terrain. When his company was stopped by the concentration of fire from several machine gun emplacements, he crawled to one position and destroyed it, killing three Germans. Continuing forward, he attacked an enemy observation post and killed two occupants. With the aid of one of his men, Lieutenant Baker attacked two more machine gun nests, killing or wounding the four enemy soldiers occupying these positions. He then covered the evacuation of the wounded personnel of his company by occupying an exposed position and drawing the enemy's fire. On the following night Lieutenant Baker voluntarily led a battalion advance through enemy mine fields and heavy fire toward the division objective. Second Lieutenant Baker's fighting spirit and daring leadership were an inspiration to his men and exemplify the highest traditions of the Armed Forces.
Gates did wonder why there is no Fort Patton. Fort Hood is up for grabs and was home to the 20th Armored after WWII; the 20th was also in Patton's 3rd Army that swept across France. Fort Patton or Fort Hood? Come on, ask me a hard one!
As to what or whether this will happen, who knows? There is an opportunity here for a national feel-good moment while we argue about the many black heroes on offer and debate who is most exemplary. Fort Tubman, for her work on the Underground Railroad? Tell me more!
The re-naming idea found bipartisan support on the Senate Armed Services Committee and Gates (as well as Gen. Petraeus (ret.) ought to have some sway here. But Trump does not gravitate towards "feel-good" when there is a chance for a shouting, divisive brawl. I suspect this will be an opportunity lost.
Sorry, folks - no Fort Patton. President Biden will assuredly not be naming any bases after white guys (General George Washington, slave-owner? Har de 'effin har.) When Fort Hood is finally renamed, well, we'll see.
But speaking of Biden (you remember him? The guy who used to be Obama's Vice-President?) let's remind ourselves of Gates great quote:
Having served eight presidents, including as C.I.A. director under President George Bush, Mr. Gates has been called one of the most admired public servants in modern times by Democrats and Republicans.
...
As for the fall election, Mr. Gates would not say whom he supported. In a previous book, he wrote that while he respected former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. as “a man of integrity,” he was “wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”
Gates is not doubling down on that but he is not backing down either:
On Sunday, Mr. Gates stood by that assessment. “The one place I would take it back — during the Obama administration, we agreed more than we disagreed,” he said, citing their mutual opposition to intervening in Libya or pushing for the resignation of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak.
In a separate interview Sunday on “Meet the Press” on NBC, he went a bit further. He noted his policy disagreements with Mr. Biden, then added, “But I think one of the things that people will be weighing this fall is probably the character of the two contestants.”
Probably.
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