SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — Signs honoring conservative activist Charlie Kirk are being removed from a Sumner County highway after Vietnam veterans objected to their placement.
The Charlie Kirk Memorial Highway signs had been installed in June earlier this year along State Route 386, which is also designated as Vietnam Veterans Boulevard. The road honors 25 Sumner County service members who died in the Vietnam War.
Kirk, 31, was shot and killed in September 2025 while speaking at a university event in Utah.
Sumner County Commissioner Jeremy Mansfield said many local Vietnam veterans were angry and frustrated that another memorial designation had been placed along a road dedicated to their fellow service members.
Mansfield also said the veterans were not consulted before the signs were installed.
According to Mansfield, state Rep. Johnny Garrett selected the location. That decision has now been reversed, and the Charlie Kirk Memorial Highway designation will be moved to Long Hollow Pike in Goodlettsville.
The designation follows earlier discussions about naming a Sumner County road after Kirk. A previous location was considered but did not move forward.
Mansfield thanked the veterans who spoke out, along with Garrett and the city of Goodlettsville for helping relocate the signs.
He said the new location will honor Kirk “without taking anything away from those we already promised to remember.”
Successful-Medicine9 on July 20th, 2026 at 20:51 UTC »
The article doesn't say they were mad about the name, just that the highway was already named to memorialize Vietnam war vets and they changed it without asking. They're gonna memorialize Kirk on a different road now. Hopefully the attention this garnered will cancel it altogether.
AdditionalBudget2142 on July 20th, 2026 at 20:49 UTC »
History won’t be kind to him and that’s a good thing.
itrustanyone on July 20th, 2026 at 20:45 UTC »
What did charlie kirk do for Sumner County, Tennessee? Did he have ties to the area? Cult behavior...