Pete Hegseth Wants to Bring Back Confederate Base Names. Veterans Aren’t Having It.
Restoring Confederate base names isn’t about legacy—it’s about loyalty to the wrong history.*
I’m the son of a proud Air Force veteran. A military brat. I grew up on bases named after men who fought to keep people like me in bondage.
I know what it feels like to walk into a classroom, salute the flag, and eat in the mess hall under the names of Confederate generals. Names like Fort Bragg and Fort Hood weren’t just signs—they were signals. Messages to Black service members and families that this country still couldn’t decide who it was loyal to.
Now, Trump’s Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, wants to bring those names back. At a recent Senate hearing, he called it “restoring legacy.” But let’s be clear—he’s not restoring anything. He’s resurrecting treason.
Senator Angus King didn’t sugarcoat it: “Robert E. Lee was a traitor.” And Senator Tammy Duckworth, a veteran herself, reminded Hegseth that the base she served on was once named after a man who killed Americans—now it honors one who saved them.
That’s what this moment is about. Not “cancel culture.” Not “heritage.” It’s about whether Black soldiers and their families finally get to be seen. Whether our stories matter as much as anyone else's.
The military’s recent renamings—like Fort Johnson, honoring a Black WWI hero—were steps toward justice. Hegseth wants to undo that.
And for those of us who grew up saluting those names? This fight is personal.
Read my full article about this nonsense in The Black Wall Street Times.
- Nehemiah D. Frank, founder, publisher, & editor-in-chief
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Deplorable idea.
In honor of his anti DEI moves— no black and brown soldiers should be sent to fight in new war. Just proud boys, evangelical nationalists,etc…..,