Thumbs up: Rethinking names for military bases

No U.S. military base is named for Benedict Arnold, the Revolutionary War general whose name because synonymous with traitor when he promised to betray the cause and turn over the American fort at West Point in return for cash and a commission in the British army.|
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD

No U.S. military base is named for Benedict Arnold, the Revolutionary War general whose name because synonymous with traitor when he promised to betray the cause and turn over the American fort at West Point in return for cash and a commission in the British army.

There are, however, 10 military installations named for Confederate figures who fought against the Union during the Civil War: Camp Beauregard, Louisiana; Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Gordon, Georgia; Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Lee, Virginia; Fort Pickett, Virginia; Fort Polk, Louisiana; and Fort Rucker, Alabama.

Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, and 21 other House members signed a letter calling on Defense Secretary James Mattis to rename those facilities. “As a veteran, I know what a high honor it is to have military installations named for heroic Americans,” Thompson said. “It is an honor that no Confederate figure should enjoy.”

Changing the names would be as controversial as the removal of Confederate statues, which continued this week at the University of Texas. But new names should be considered, and thumbs up to Thompson and his colleagues for starting the conversation.

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