Federal Commission Wrongly Puts ‘Antietam’ On Confederate Names Chopping Block

 The Federalist

To include ‘Antietam’ in a list of names that supposedly honor the Confederacy is to completely misunderstand history.

"There is a move these days to revisit our monuments and the names we choose to publicly honor. This movement is good and just. It is a sign of our mature democracy that we can choose to stop honoring things that do not reflect our American ideals and celebrate those that do. In this process, however, we must guard against the lazy choice of merely casting off the past, of portraying as evil or immoral anything that is historical.

"Congress has directed the U.S. Department of Defense to create a commission to review the names of military installations and vessels after Confederate figures or victories. It’s called the Commission on the Naming of Items of the Department of Defense that Commemorate the Confederate States of America or Any Person Who Served Voluntarily with the Confederate States of America. The commission will brief the secretary of defense and Congress on its work by October 2021 and present a final report by October 1, 2022.

""Incredibly, the name of a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer, the Antietam, may be included in the commission’s “broad review” of names, according to the retir'ed admiral heading the commission. To include “Antietam” in a list of names that supposedly honor the Confederacy is to completely misunderstand history." . . .

The people of the Union in the 1860s knew well what Antietam stood for. They had poured out a tremendous measure of sacrifice onto that battlefield. It seems we, in 2021, have forgotten. But we must not. Keeping this name is one way to always remember.

Whispers of Antietam: Then and Now (baltimoresun.com)