In this June 27, 2017 photo, a plaque marks a maple tree planted by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on the grounds of St. John’s Episcopal Church in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The plaque marking the tree was installed in 1912 by the New York chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. General Lee was stationed at the nearby U.S. Army base at Fort Hamilton from 1842-1847 and reportedly worshipped at the church as did other army generals based there. The tree has been restored, but the church is up for sale. U.S. Rep. Yvette Clark, (D, Brooklyn), questions the existence of two memorials to General Robert E. Lee within the nearby U.S. Army base where the base’s main boulevard is named after him. Clarke claims the South has turned a page on this chapter in history and says it’s time for Brooklyn to do the same. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
A street inside New York City’s sole army base now bears the name of a Black Congressional Medal of Honor recipient rather than a Confederate general.
Fort Hamilton changed the road’s name to John Warren Avenue on Friday morning, following a years-old push by local officials to remove Confederate symbols nationwide. The base had previously called the street General Lee Avenue, after Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
Lt. John Warren, of Brooklyn, was killed at the age of 22 in 1969 in the Vietnam War when he fell in the direction of a grenade and shielded at least three men from the blast.
His Congressional Medal of Honor citation says Williams’ “ultimate action of sacrifice to save the lives of his men was in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.”
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Warren is buried in Long Island National Cemetery, and his Congressional Medal of Honor was posthumously presented to him in 1970.
The base will also rename its Stonewall Jackson Drive, which is named after another Confederate general.
