A Congressional commission says it would cost about $323,000 to rename a Virginia Army post for a World War Two Medal of Honor recipient from Leake County. The Naming Commission, in its final report, is estimating the expense of rebranding Fort Pickett to honor Technical Sergeant Van Barfoot– instead of Major General George Pickett, who led the Confederate assault at Gettysburg known as Pickett’s Charge.
Barfoot, from Edinburg, received the highest military honor for his heroism in fighting the Germans in Italy in 1944.
The money would pay for changing signs, marquees and maps at the base, which is home to the Army National Guard’s Maneuver Training Center. The commission’s report goes to Congress, then the Secretary of Defense. And Fort Pickett could be officially renamed Fort Barfoot within the next two years.
