The decision to name a stretch of Tennessee highway after the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk has been reversed, with state officials moving to relocate signs after Vietnam veterans objected to sharing the name, according to a local official.
State Route 386 —an east–west corridor cutting through Sumner and Davidson counties — has long been known as Vietnam Veterans Boulevard. Following Kirk’s assassination last September, the roadway was also designated the Charlie Kirk Memorial Highway.
On Monday, Sumner County Commissioner Jeremy Mansfield announced that the additional name had been rescinded and the signage moved, citing what he described as irritation among veterans who felt caught off-guard by the decision.
“Many of our Vietnam veterans were angry and frustrated to see this designation placed on ground set aside to honor their brothers in arms,” Mansfield wrote on Facebook, noting that 25 service members from Sumner County died in Vietnam.
“To every Vietnam veteran who spoke up, thank you,” Mansfield added. “Thank you for your service and for your sacrifice. Your opinion on this mattered, and I was surprised to learn they were never consulted before the first sign went up.”
Mansfield said that the Charlie Kirk Memorial Highway designation has been moved to Long Hollow Pike, located in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.
“I am excited to see it find a home there, a place that honors Charlie Kirk without taking anything away from those we already promised to remember,” he wrote.
Republican State Representative Johnny Garrett is “responsible for the state bill getting the designation / signs as well as the location,” Mansfield told The Independent in an email.
“I am not involved other than reporting to my constituents in Goodlettsville, TN, what the state is doing,” Mansfield said. “It is not a county matter.”
The Independent has contacted Garrett, who describes himself as a “Trump conservative” and is running for Congress in the state’s 6th District.
“The Tennessee General Assembly approves memorial designation of roadways, while the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is responsible for fabricating and installing the signage,” a state transportation department spokesperson told Fox8. “Regarding the placement or removal of the signage, TDOT will follow the direction provided by the General Assembly, which we have not yet received.”
Kirk, an influential conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, was shot dead on a Utah college campus on September 10. Tyler James Robinson, a 23-year-old man from Utah, has been charged with his killing.
After Kirk’s death, GOP lawmakers across the country proposed various ways to memorialize him. In Minnesota, a bill was put forward to fund a statue at the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus. In the House, an Arizona Republican proposed legislation to create commemorative coins with Kirk’s likeness.
A New York City sculptor also said this week that he spent $100,000 to build a lifelike statue of Kirk — but so far, no one has expressed interest in buying it.
