Although top military leaders, including Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, have expressed their openness to renaming the 10 Army bases and facilities named after Confederate military leaders, President Donald Trump has opposed openly to such reviews, even threatening to veto the NDAA if Congress lawmakers approve the measure with Warren’s amendment intact.
But Reed, a former Army Ranger who served in the 82nd Airborne Division, said Sunday that naming Army facilities after the Confederacy figures “does not represent what I think should be consistent with our … honor of American military heroes. ”
“The factor that I think is important today is when you look at a position in the United States Army, it’s made up of men and women, it’s made up of Americans of all races,” he said. “I think you can’t name someone who basically promised their service to a system based on slavery. That has to be changed, and we will. “
