Mo. military facilities named after heroes

Missouri's two largest military installations are unlikely to be among those targeted for a name change, as both are named for American heroes.

In the wake of recent racial unrest across the country, some have called for the renaming of military installations named after Confederate officers. Among the most well-known of the posts are three named after Confederate generals -- Fort Benning in Georgia, named after Henry Benning; Fort Bragg in North Carolina, named after Braxton Bragg; and Fort Hood in Texas, named after John Bell Hood.

Such concerns do not apply to Missouri's Army post and Air Force base.

The namesake of the Army's Fort Leonard Wood, near St. Robert, was a major general who spent 40 years serving the nation in military and civilian capacities, according to the post's website. Whiteman Air Force Base, near Sedalia, is named after 2nd Lt. George A. Whiteman, one of the first casualties during the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Fort Leonard Wood is a training center for Army troops, with several types of schools on site for specific military occupational specialties, including weapons of mass destruction and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats and hazards; military engineers; and military police.

George WhitemanMissouri S&T

Whiteman AFB is home to a fleet of B-2 Spirit Bombers and A-10 fighter jets. The base hosts Air Force, National Guard and Reserve units.

Leonard Wood

Born in 1860 in New Hampshire, Maj. Gen. Wood, a Harvard graduate, began his military career as an Army surgeon, serving in the frontier's Apache Indian Wars of the 1880s. He earned the Medal of Honor for valor.

He would later command the famed "Rough Riders" (1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry), with Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt as his second in command, and was part of the Battle of San Juan.

Wood would become Army chief of staff. He served as military governor of Cuba and governor general of the Philippines.

After his military career, Wood nearly the Republican nominee for president in 1920.

He died in 1927.

George Whiteman

Born in 1919 in rural Missouri, Whiteman attended then-Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy at Rolla before enlisting in the military in 1939, earning a commission in the Army Air Corps in 1940. He volunteered for duty in Hawaii in early 1941.

On that fateful December morning, as the sun rose over Pearl Harbor, the surprise Japanese attack unleashed fury on the naval base. Whiteman lifted off from Bellows Field in his P-40B Warhawk, but he barely got off the ground before a hail of fire struck the cockpit, forcing Whiteman to lose control and crash, according to military records. He was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart.

When Sedalia Air Force Base reopened in 1955, the base was renamed in Whiteman's honor, military records indicate.

While not addressing Wood or Whiteman in particular, two of Missouri's highest-ranking federal officials rejected attempts to rename military installations.

Renaming

Eighth District Rep. Jason Smith said President Donald Trump should make the call on any such action.

"President Trump is our Commander-in-chief and in charge of managing our military personnel and their assets," he said. "He is doing a great job as such and I would defer to him on what he thinks best for the future of our military in this matter. The last thing we need is 535 Members of Congress trying to run our armed forces."

The congressman said history is inescapable.

"I don't think the best way to remember, learn and grow from our history as a nation is to try and erase the parts which may make us uncomfortable looking back on them today," he noted. "It is forcing those uncomfortable conversations with future generations about everything our country has been through, the good and the bad, and learned from, which helps us understand where we have been and how we ensure we don't return to some of those mistakes."

Sen. Josh Hawley said attempts to rename military installations are a divisive move.

"(Sen.) Elizabeth Warren's plan to mandate that the military rename bases is an attempt to stir up a culture war and divide the country," he commented. "If we are going to discuss renaming bases, it should be done in the light of day, not behind closed doors by Senator Warren. The process should include military families, veterans, and local stakeholders. But the Left is more interested in stirring up a culture war for their own political gain. And that's not right."

Caitlyn Limbaugh contributed to this report.