General Lee Avenue on Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn (photo: Gettty)

Every Soldier, Sailor, Marine, and Airman from New York City and Long Island conducts their enlistment at the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) on Fort Hamilton Army Base, located on the southeast coast of Brooklyn. Many recruits show up to Fort Hamilton unaware of the fact that the main drag on the base is named after confederate General Robert E. Lee.

As if it weren’t embarrassing enough that a street on Fort Hamilton was named after the General in Chief of confederate