Letter to the editor: Why does Josh Hawley want to retain honors for US enemies?

They were opponents of US

I am disappointed to learn that Sen. Josh Hawley opposes the measure to drop Confederate names from our nation’s military bases. (June 12, 3A, “Hawley opposes effort to rename Confederate-named Army bases”) As an Army veteran who served at Fort Hood, one of the bases considered for renaming, I offer my perspective.

Fort Hood is named after John Bell Hood, who resigned from the U.S. Army in 1861 to join the Confederacy. After suffering a series of defeats during the Franklin-Nashville Campaign in late 1864, he surrendered to Union forces in 1865.

He led insurrections as a traitor to the United States of America, and U.S. forces defeated him.

I served in the U.S. Army for more than six years, deploying twice to Kuwait — before and in response to the attacks on 9/11. Outside of being a husband, father and man of faith, my greatest pride comes from the time I spent serving our country in the U.S. Army.

It is neither patriotic nor necessary that these bases remain named for our nation’s enemies, especially those who fought to prevent American citizens like me from realizing our inalienable rights. We would never name a base after Osama bin Laden.

I hope Sen. Hawley will reconsider his position.

- Yinka Faleti, candidate for Missouri Secretary of State, St. Louis