Rename Fort Hood for Roy Benavidez?

5,792 Views | 35 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by tamc1956ag
Liquid Wrench
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Note: I've been very hesitant to post any topics related to the Civil War or CW dedications on this board due to the propensity for hijacking. This particular subject is very Texas-centric, so hopefully we can stay on topic and not pretend we're in the middle of a heated statehouse debate in 1860.

I'm not sure how much of a movement there is, or if this is just one person's idea in anticipation of a groundswell.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/rename-fort-hood-truly-texan-hero-roy-benavidez/


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His name likewise lives onhe passed away in 1998 attached to parks, schools, fraternal lodges, scholarships, and a U.S. Navy supply ship. Back in March, the state of Texas renamed a stretch of Highway 71 in his native Wharton County in his honor. But military historian and retired army officer George Eaton believes it's past time to do even more to honor him: rename Fort Hood as Fort Benavidez.

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Eaton told me in a recent email exchange that since 2015 the Army has been under some light pressure to strike down the Dixie generals from their perches. His solution is to rename the bases after Southerners and Texans who didn't take up arms against the government they had sworn to protect. His choice for Fort Hood is Benavidez, a man he believes rises above many other worthy Texan candidates. The impetus to make these changes has to come from where the names originatedthe state governments or via a "popular groundswell."
Should note, I'm mostly familiar with the author of this piece for writing about the local music scene and hip hang outs. Anyone here familiar with George Eaton? What do you think about the idea that name changes will come, so get out ahead of them by selecting worthy local dedications by "popular groundswell" before the decision gets to the bureaucracy?
Smokedraw01
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It would be cool if it was named after a Texan.
OldArmy71
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Audie Murphy, if they're going to change it.
JABQ04
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Once they change it then everyone will start hitching about how much it cost to redo every sign on base, every road sign/street sign around the area, and the confusion that it will cause.
tmaggies
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Leave it alone
HollywoodBQ
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Quote:

Anyone here familiar with George Eaton? What do you think about the idea that name changes will come, so get out ahead of them by selecting worthy local dedications by "popular groundswell" before the decision gets to the bureaucracy?
Never heard of George Eaton (here's his LinkedIn profile). But, I think most regular Texans are good with the way things are. (after reviewing his LinkedIn, typical Yankee rabblerouser trying to stir up conflict where there is none).

And, Audie Murphy is an excellent idea. I don't know what if anything is named after him. There might be, I'm just unaware of anything other than the "Audie Murphy" assault course at ROTC Advanced Camp at Ft. Lewis, WA (in my era).

With respect to Roy Benavidez, all I can say is that one of my Tank Commanders who was a Mexican-American Vietnam vet didn't have great things to say about Benavidez. Referred to him as kind of attention/spotlight seeking. My guy was happy to leave the things he did in Vietnam in the past. I'm not faulting Benavidez but that's just the take from somebody else who was "over there".
OldArmy71
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The VA hospital in San Antonio is named after Audie Murphy.

I don't know all that much about him, but he had a damned hard life as a child and as an adult after the war. He had what today we know as PTSD. As I am sure most people know, he was in a bunch of B movies and knew he was not a great actor. The exception was in The Red Badge of Courage, directed by John Huston. He is excellent in that movie, as are the other actors, including Bill Mauldin, the artist who created the famous Willie and Joe cartoons for Stars and Stripes.

Murphy also came to A&M and reviewed the Corps, so there's a connection to us: https://spirit.txamfoundation.com/Fall-2016/Letters.aspx

Anyway, I admire him and would be pleased to see him replace Hood if the fort were to be renamed.
Bighunter43
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Thought Audie Murphy did an admirable job of playing himself in "To Hell and Back!" However, his best performance by far is opposite Burt Lancaster and Audrey Hepburn in "The Unforgiven".....I'm not in favor of any name change for Fort Hood..but if they did....Audie Murphy would be my choice!
CanyonAg77
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No one is ever going to be able to meet all the changing social mores over 100s of years. In 50 years all the forts will have to be named for gays. Fifty years after that, gays will be purged for straights. Or it will be civil rights people then exchanged for white nationalists, then blacks, then Asians

Leave it alone.

Name something new for Roy B
tmaggies
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CanyonAg77 said:

No one is ever going to be able to meet all the changing social mores over 100s of years. In 50 years all the forts will have to be named for gays. Fifty years after that, gays will be purged for straights. Or it will be civil rights people then exchanged for white nationalists, then blacks, then Asians

Leave it alone.

Name something new for Roy B


Couldn't have said it better!
$240 Worth of Pudding
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In today's age, IF it gets renamed, there would be outrage choosing white, hetero Audie Murphy over a Benavidez.
We live in strange times.
Cen-Tex
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"'Every Army installation is named for a soldier who holds a place in our military history. Accordingly, these historic names represent individuals, not causes or ideologies,' and, 'It should be noted that the naming occurred in the spirit of reconciliation, not division.'" - Brig. (now Maj Gen) Malcolm Frost in 2015
JABQ04
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That was soooo 2015. It's 2019 now. Things change.
Waltonloads08
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Fort McForty Face
Rabid Cougar
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Might as well change the Texas flag too. It is was a Confederate State Flag.
aalan94
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Back when I was a newspaper reporter, I actually interviewed Roy Benavidez shortly before his death. If there was anyone worthy of such an honor, it would be him. But no.

First of all, John Bell Hood did nothing to deserve discredit. As far as I know, he never owned slaves, and if he did, it was only house servants, which was fundamentally no different from the servants of Northern generals, who almost all had black servants as well. He certainly never owned a plantation.

He also never denied the war was about slavery, and said he joined it to support his adopted state.

One could fault him for poor leadership, but the fact is, at the time the fort was named, he was the highest-ranking and most important Texas leader in any army outside of Albert Sydney Johnston and Sam Houston.

I love Benavides, and would love to see something named after him, but I'm not aware of a single military base named after an enlisted soldier. They're generally named after generals. If you wanted to rename a base, the appropriate thing would be to name it after Eisenhower or Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who led Multi-National Force Iraq. I'm not a fan of the latter not because I don't want to honor a Hispanic, but because frankly, his time in Iraq was a disaster.

If he were to pass away, an appropriate person to name the base after would be Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, who served at Fort Hood for much of his career, was the 2nd in command in Iraq when I was there (surge period, 2007-08. I sat right behind him in the daily briefings). He was probably as much, maybe even more responsible for turning Iraq around as Petraeus was.

If you're looking to strip Hood's name, there's no reason to do it other than blind hate for anyone connected to the confederacy, regardless of their actual role and interest in promoting slavery. If you want to honor Roy Benavidez, there are a ton of other options, particularly Army reserve centers, which are frequently named after enlisted personnel.

Rabid Cougar
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"IF" it should be renamed it should be for General Robert Shoemaker... His service to the nation and the local community is without equal. He was present at local Killeen ISD High School named in his honor everyday that school was in session until his death. I had the honor of meeting him several times.


General Robert Showmaker

Liquid Wrench
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Quote:

Thought Audie Murphy did an admirable job of playing himself in "To Hell and Back!"
Will be on Turner Classic Movies at 7PM tonight as part of a WWII marathon.
Stive
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To Hell and Back was probably my favorite book as a kid. My grandfather had an autographed copy and I probably read it ten times.

I rewatched part of the movie tonight and it's pretty bad. Even for 1950's war movies it's pretty campy and poorly acted.
schmellba99
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How about we just say "no" to this nonsense?
CanyonAg77
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Since we've derailed the thread, look up Audie's first movie. It was about a delinquent kid sent to reform school. He changes his life and ends up joining the Corps at A&M.

I think filming this might have been when Murphy came to visit A&M.
OldArmy71
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I watched it again as well and I agree with you completely. Just not a convincing account of Murphy's accomplishments at all. It's just not well made.
terata
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Agree. No. Leave it named Fort Hood.
Martin Cash
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Smokedraw01 said:

It would be cool if it was named after a Texan.
Hood was a Texan.
schmellba99
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Martin Cash said:

Smokedraw01 said:

It would be cool if it was named after a Texan.
Hood was a Texan.
He was born in Kentucky, but was commander of the Texas Brigade during the WONA, which is why he has the fort named after him.
Martin Cash
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schmellba99 said:

Martin Cash said:

Smokedraw01 said:

It would be cool if it was named after a Texan.
Hood was a Texan.
He was born in Kentucky, but was commander of the Texas Brigade during the WONA, which is why he has the fort named after him.
He was living in Texas when the war broke out and considered himself a Texan.
schmellba99
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Martin Cash said:

schmellba99 said:

Martin Cash said:

Smokedraw01 said:

It would be cool if it was named after a Texan.
Hood was a Texan.
He was born in Kentucky, but was commander of the Texas Brigade during the WONA, which is why he has the fort named after him.
He was living in Texas when the war broke out and considered himself a Texan.
I am aware of that, but that doesn't change the fact that he wasn't a Texan in the true sense. Neither was Albert Sydney Johnston, both of whom I consider remarkable military men that claimed Texas as their adopted state when the war broke out.

BQ78
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Nor LS Ross, nor many of the folks in Texas in the 1860s
Rabid Cougar
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Felix Robertson... the only Texas born general officer in the Civil War.

Washington, Texas 1839. West Point Class of '61.

I knew that there was one real Texan...
Rabid Cougar
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BQ78 said:

Nor LS Ross, nor many of the folks in Texas in the 1860s
He was born in Iowa of all places..... Lived in Cameron, Texas when he was young..... Home site is where the big band stand is located in the city park right on 36/77 before you go under the train underpass. Can't miss it.
Rabid Cougar
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CanyonAg77 said:

Since we've derailed the thread, look up Audie's first movie. It was about a delinquent kid sent to reform school. He changes his life and ends up joining the Corps at A&M.

I think filming this might have been when Murphy came to visit A&M.
Aggie1944 posted a bunch of pictures of Murphy's visit to A&M in 1949 to this page four years ago.

His version of "Bad Boy", the film you mentioned, was not filmed in College Station but he did stop by the college on a train tour of the state.
Gunny456
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I agree. Leave it alone.
HollywoodBQ
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The timing on this is funny, a friend of mine just posted an old photo from when he was in the TXARNG. Turns out the National Guard Armory in El Campo, TX is named for Roy P. Benavidez.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Roy-P-Benavidez-National-Guard-Armory/148060605784864
Cen-Tex
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good, that's settled then
aalan94
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I want to reiterate that as much as I'm opposed to renaming Fort Hood for Roy, there is no other honor high enough for him. He was basically a Tejano John Wayne. Except he did this stuff in real life and could probably kick John Wayne's pansy little butt while simultaneously roundhouse kicking Chuck Norris.

What stuck out when I interviewed him was the fact that they thought he was dead, zipped him up in the body bag, and only realized he was alive when the priest opened it up to give him last rights and Roy spit in his face to prove he was alive. Seriously, why is Roy not a movie? Why doesn't he have a statue as big as Sam Houston's in his hometown? I'm all in for any of that.
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