Politicians like Republican Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and John Cornyn of Texas had initially equated changing the names with erasing history.

Online, reaction to the redesignation ceremonies has been overwhelmingly celebratory.

On Reddit discussion boards, for example, people hailed the new names as a victory not just for social justice but for logical thinking, as many wondered how U.S. Army bases got named for Confederate leaders in the first place.

“Names have power and meaning,” one Redditor posted. “Naming the home of the Infantry after a treasonous f—– who killed American Infantrymen to protect slavery makes my blood boil.”

Four of the bases had been named for Confederate leaders at the start of World War I, and the others at the start of World War II. In those instances, military officials deferred to local white politicians and groups such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

The resulting names reflected the South’s Jim Crow policies, which sought to reestablish a society based on white supremacy, and the “lost cause” myth, which claimed that slaves were happy, the North was the aggressor in the Civil War, and the Confederacy’s rebellion was an honorable struggle for the Southern way of life, according to the Naming Commission’s final report.

Fort Pickett, named for the Confederate general who led the ill-fated charge at the Battle of Gettysburg, was the first base to be redesignated.

On March 24, that facility in Virginia was renamed for Col. Van Barfoot, who was awarded the Medal of Honor – the military’s highest award – for gallantry in World War II.

Barfoot had Native American ancestry, and he also served in Korea and Vietnam.

On April 10, Fort Rucker, the “Home of Army Aviation” in Alabama, was renamed for Michael J. Novosel Sr., a helicopter pilot who rescued more than 5,500 wounded personnel, including his son, during the Vietnam War.

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