By Patrick F. Cannon

In my brief and distinguished military career of two years, the Army managed to post me to five forts or other facilities. Three of the five were named after Civil War Confederate generals – Forts Benning, Gordon, and Hood. I’ll be honest with you. I didn’t know who they were named after and didn’t care. I did my basic training in  the spring at Fort Benning, where it rained a lot. I did a lot of marching through red clay mud.

            Also in Georgia, it was summer when I went to Signal School at Fort Gordon. It was hot and humid. At the end of our long march from barracks to school every morning, we were drenched with sweat. Ditto coming back. It was much later when I went to Fort Hood in Texas to help support armored force maneuvers. After a couple of weeks, they were called off due to the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

            Years later, long after my Army service, I began to wonder why these forts had been named for Confederate generals who were, after all, traitors. In a spirit of reconciliation during Reconstruction, they were pardoned. In many countries, they would have been shot or hanged. They certainly wouldn’t have had Federal facilities named after them.

            As  it happens, both Forts Benning and Gordon were established in 1917, during World War I; Hood in 1942 during World War II. You should not be shocked to discover that the committees of Congress responsible for military affairs were headed by Southerners during those years. Or that so many Army forts were established in the south in the first place.

            Perhaps recalling that these Confederate generals were complicit in the deaths of 360,000 Union soldiers and 260,000 of their own, far more deaths than the rest of our wars combined,  Congress finally came to its senses and directed that these and other facilities would no longer be named after traitors. In 2023, Fort Benning became Fort Moore, named after General Hal Moore, a hero of the Viet Nam War and his wife Julia, an advocate for military wives. Fort Gordon was renamed Fort Eisenhower, after the former president and General of the Army; and Fort Hood was renamed Fort Cavazos in honor of General Richard Cavazos, who was a recipient of the Madal of Honor.

            Wherein is it “woke” to rename United States military facilities after American heroes instead of rebellious traitors?  Nevertheless, when President Trump regained power in 2025, his choice as Secretary of Defense, the Rambo wannabe Pete Hegseth, decided to return them to their former names. But in a shamelessly odious ploy, he claimed they were not being renamed for the Confederate generals, but for other veterans with the same name!

            Fort Benning is not now named after General Henry Benning, but for Corporal Fred G. Benning, a World War I hero. Instead of being named for Confederate John G. Gordon, the fort is now named for Master Sargeant Gary Gordon, a Medal of Honor recipient who fought in Somalia. And Fort Hood is now named for World War I hero, Colonel Robert B. Hood, instead of John Bell Hood. It’s too  bad there wasn’t a post named after a Confederate general named Cannon. It could have been renamed for me, Specialist Fourth Class Patrick F, Cannon, recipient of the Good Conduct Medal and who also earned a Sharpshooter badge!

            This blatantly transparent tactic fooled no one, particularly the “Lost Cause” southerners who are such faithful Trump voters. The South shall rise again!

Copyright 2026, Patrick F. Cannon