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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFort Benning will get a new name. Here are some of the possibilities
The commission tasked with renaming Fort Benning and other Department of Defense assets that commemorate the Confederacy is now deliberating on what the Army post near Columbus will soon be called.
The Naming Commission received more than 4,600 suggestions for Fort Bennings new name through an online submission period that ended Wednesday.
Military installations and other Department of Defense-owned assets must be renamed following the passage of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. The move came on the heels of calls for racial equality and the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd.
The years-long renaming process is a step closer to the finish.
-more-
https://www.yahoo.com/news/fort-benning-name-possibilities-120000877.html
hlthe2b
(105,775 posts)He may have been Union, but he was hated even by many in the North for his brutality and scorched earth brand of subjugating civilians as well as the enemy army. He was genocidal in his war on Native Americans after the war when assigned to "rid the railroad construction of the Indian scourge."
HELL NO. In this, I'd join the most "southerner of southerners: to fight that name. Who the hell would suggest such a thing?
PTWB
(4,131 posts)Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)Im personally in favor of Wm T Sherman. Something poetic about it and the march to the sea.
hlthe2b
(105,775 posts)towards Native Americans.
I can NOT believe you would say such a thing. Good Gawd. I'm no Southerner but this man was a monster. Whether you believe so during his civil war service, he most certainly was towards Native Americans AFTER the war. Horrible, horrible man.
"Poetic about his march to the sea?" OMG! You admire his scorched earth tactics against civilians? He's a very big reason why we have so much never-ending southern resentment. Hell no.
brooklynite
(96,882 posts)will they overplay their hand by demanding extreme liberal purity in the name selection?
hlthe2b
(105,775 posts)any GD history?
Damn. I can NOT believe you all! Read a damned history, book, will you?
Replace one racist name with another known for Native American genocide? Really?
brooklynite
(96,882 posts)hlthe2b
(105,775 posts)Sherman was the only noted genocidal racist and extreme controversial military person on the list. And to suggest him for Fort Bennett, GEORGIA is beyond insane. Someone probably thinks that is a cute middle finger to the face to those who won't want to see the name changed to begin with. I'd suggest being far more adult than THAT.
If you look at the list there are some really worthy names there. Not racists. Not war criminals. Not those who wished to eradicate the nation of the "Native Savage" and worked hard to do so. What part of this do YOU not understand? How could you even suggest this is ok? In your mind is past genocidal activity towards Native people not likewise racist? I know you live in NYC and perhaps never give Native Americans a thought at all. But guess what? You need to.
PTWB
(4,131 posts)the hate for Sherman from the confederate flag wavers was still palpable. Putting them in their place is always going to be worth something.
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)And I know a great deal of Wm T Sherman. You have your opinion, I have mine, dont like it put me on your ignore list.
hlthe2b
(105,775 posts)I can not believe this of you. OMG!
I really could be more shocked to see your attitude laid out with no qualms nor hesitation. Our historical brutality towards Native Americans (which is ongoing) is not an issue for you? You are fine glorifying someone guilty of both to an extreme level?!
Tommy Carcetti
(43,476 posts)Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)I have mine.
hlthe2b
(105,775 posts)innocent differences of interpretation or understanding. What the hell?
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)Put me on your ignore list.
What the Hell? It really isnt all that difficult to do.
hlthe2b
(105,775 posts)I really misjudged you.
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)And this may be a real shock to you.
I dont have to justify any of my opinions to you or anyone else on this board.
As to your opinion of me or my opinions, well that and two bucks will buy you a cup of coffee somewhere.
hlthe2b
(105,775 posts)the German Holocaust and those responsible?
I hope your unabashed celebration of one who committed Native American genocide is not a clue.
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)There are two people on this earth whose opinions of me matter to me and again I understand that this may come as a surprise to you. You are not one of the them.
If you want to pick a fight, go bother someone else. Im not taking your repeated bait.
hlthe2b
(105,775 posts)for all to be horrified by. Is there a name for those who have no sense of shame nor concern for others' suffering? It escapes me... Oh, wait...
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)You continue to fail.
hlthe2b
(105,775 posts)says the person who celebrates those who commit genocide against Native Americans.
Obviously, my refusal to let you go unscathed on such a horrendous position and claim to be just like any other DUer is bothering you. So, perhaps you have some sense of shame after all. If so, I find some relief for you.
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)Of your numerous attempts to bait me. I find it all rather sad.
hlthe2b
(105,775 posts)as would be all those with conscience.
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)but find your consistent attempt to bait me rather so.
This is that last response you will receive from me. I have been very clear that I am not changing my opinion and that I have no interest in what you think about it or me.
Good Day.....
hlthe2b
(105,775 posts)Just trying to educate you that support for someone who committed N. American genocide is horrific.Maybe he is an ancestor. We all look hard enough and many of us will find a detestable ancestor in our heritage, acknowledge it and move on. Maybe you are not open to being so educated or just don't care. At least others spoon-fed nonsense about his supposed heroism (regardless of how one views his actions in the civil war) will know the truth.
Here is who you are supporting. William Tecumseh Sherman (ironically his middle name was that of a peacemaker Indian Chief). And, no this isn't my thoughts, it is historical fact:
https://www.history.com/news/shermans-war-on-native-americans
Native Americans Have General Sherman to Thank for Their Exile to Reservations
The Civil War hero brought his scorched-earth policy to the Plainsand wiped out Native Americans food supply.
Erin Blakemore
When William Clark and Meriwether Lewis famous expedition reached the Great Plains in 1806, the crew couldnt believe their eyes. There, ranging across the prairies in groups that moved up to 30 miles per hour, were gigantic herds of buffalo so large they waylaid the travelers for hours on end. The moving multitude
darkened the whole plains, theywrote.
Seventy years later, buffaloand the Native American tribes the explorers encounteredwould be almost eliminated on the Great Plains thanks to another revered American, William Tecumseh Sherman.
--snip--
Buffalo were a critical part of that plan. Shermans job was to use the U.S. Army to protect the transcontinental railroad and secure mining interests in territory traditionally owned and settled by Native Americans. The plan was to force Native Americans onto reservations, seize their land and protect the settlers who moved there. In a series of campaigns now known as the western Indian Wars, the military clashed with tribes intent on protecting their lands and their way of life.
Destroying the buffalo meant destroying Native Americans, so Sherman honed in on the animals. As long as the buffalo roamed, he wrote to fellow general Philip Sheridan in 1868, Native Americans would follow them. I think it would be wise to invite all the sportsmen of England and America this fall for a Grand Buffalo hunt, hewrote, and make one grand sweep of them all.
By 1873, buffalo were nearly extinct. Where there were myriads of buffalo, wrote U.S. Army colonel Richard Irving Dodge, there were now myriads of carcasses. The air was foul with a sickening stench, and the vast plain was a dead, solitary, putrid desert. Yet Sherman still argued that the United States needed to keep killing buffalo to subjugate Native Americans.
It worked: By the early 20th century,only 325 buffalo remained in the entire country. Historian snow attribute nearly three quarters of Native American population decline to westward expansion. Between 1800 and 1890, the Native American population dropped from around 600,000 to just 228,000.
By the time Sherman retired in 1884, he had succeeded in forcing Plains Indians onto reservations. As historian David D. Smitswrites, With the mainstay of their diet gone the Indians had no choice but to accept a servile fate on a reservation where they could subsist on government handouts. And in the words of the Sioux leader Sitting Bull, a cold wind blew across the prairie when the last buffalo fella death-wind for my people.
Ironically, Sherman himself was named after a Native American peacekeeper, Tecumseh. The Shawnee chief formed and led a large confederacy of tribes that fought the United States during the War of 1812. Americans admired Tecumsehs ability to bring together different tribes and fight with what they saw as noble intentions.
Like Tecumseh, Sherman was a savvy leaderbut unlike the chief, he fought not to preserve Native American culture, but to destroy it.
Aren't you proud of your genocidal monster?
hlthe2b
(105,775 posts)Your support of Sherman is akin to wanting to name the base after Lt. William Calley (of My Lai massacre infamy, in case you don't know) or Custer. Both were guilty of horrific war atrocities--just as was William Tecumseh Sherman.
DashOneBravo
(2,679 posts)I get the reference 😊
dsc
(52,550 posts)I hope the great Black choices they have on that list don't wind up splitting the vote. It would be very fitting for that base in particular to be named after a deserving Black soldier.
LeftInTX
(29,629 posts)Cavazos, the first Hispanic four-star general in the Armys history, was a former III Corps and Fort Hood commander. He also received two Distinguished Service Crosses one for actions in the Korean War and one for actions in the Vietnam War.
I think Benavides is also deserving, but military bases are boring and boring names are kind of a good thing.
rurallib
(63,071 posts)that are supposed to be owned by the public.
How does Camp Raytheon sound?
A HERETIC I AM
(24,558 posts)"Forty McFortface" is out, I suppose?
How about "Big place where people hurter cosplayers hangabout"
No? Too wordy?
What about "Big Tanky Depot and Stuff".
Has a nice ring to it.
There is a very good reason why I didn't get into the Naming Shit game.
róisín_dubh
(11,876 posts)Solly Mack
(92,258 posts)There's a small sign - that you would miss if you blinked - informing people of it.
It's a walk through the woods if you do stop, sloping down toward where the river used to flow. There are old bricks, crumbling from time, that once were part of the auction block.
About 100 yards from where the river used to be are the remains of the auction block. Slaves were taken straight from boats to the block.
I hope they make the right choice and go with one of the former slaves.
From slave auction block to former slave being honored.
Mopar151
(10,163 posts)Benniing was a big training base. Plus, the Marshall Plan was our greatest military victory!
ret5hd
(21,277 posts)Response to ret5hd (Reply #21)
Goodheart This message was self-deleted by its author.
underpants
(186,058 posts)Army has Posts just FYI.
tarheelsunc
(2,117 posts)EX500rider
(11,398 posts)DashOneBravo
(2,679 posts)Last edited Mon Dec 6, 2021, 07:39 PM - Edit history (1)
I hope it SFC Cashe. He went through Infantry and Jump School there.
The Infantry motto is Follow Me. When his vehicle was hit, he was able to get out. His men couldnt follow. His men were trapped inside and he went back to get them in the fire. He died from the burns.
His son went through Infantry school in 2020.
https://www.google.com/search?q=alwyn+cashe&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=nivx&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjs7_Dzq9D0AhU5TTABHX8_Cx0Q_AUoAnoECAIQAg&biw=375&bih=605&dpr=3#imgrc=7EKmiwU916qZXM
VGNonly
(7,691 posts)He was a WWII veteran earning the Bronze Star. He and two other AA officers were driving from a summer trains camp to Ft. Benning in 1964 when several klan members approached their vehicle, shooting and murdering LT Colonel Penn. The state acquitted them. The case of United States vs Guest did eventually led to the federal cases against the men, leading to convictions.
FakeNoose
(35,227 posts)He was a 5-star General in the U.S. Army and a two-term President.
Can't go wrong with that.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)I think, though, that names need to be selected to honor the best of our military past in order to inspire it for the future.
Fwiw, naming a military base for a man who was lynched -- in a dreadful betrayal of all it is supposed to stand for -- would commemorate the worst rather than inspire the best and honor those who served honorably. It would also fail to define and exemplify fulfillment of the base's purpose.
This marker was erected near where Private Hall was last seen. Except by his murderers. He was 19.
?itok=NmVOIu9C
panader0
(25,816 posts)It is named for the mountains behind it. Huachuca is the Apache word for mountains of thunder (or water
alternatively). The Huachuca Mountains are beautiful and right out my window.
How about naming Ft Benning for some local landscape instead of a person, that someone, somehow
will find fault with?