Feb 11, 2025 Story by: Publisher
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed an order Monday restoring the name of a storied special operations forces base back to Fort Bragg. The North Carolina base was renamed Fort Liberty in 2023 as part of a national effort under the Biden administration to remove names that honored Confederate leaders.
The base’s original namesake, Gen. Braxton Bragg, was a Confederate general from Warrenton, North Carolina, who was known for owning slaves and losing key Civil War battles, contributing to the Confederacy’s downfall.
But the Pentagon spokesman said Hegseth was renaming the base to honor Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, who he said was a World War II hero who earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his exceptional courage during the Battle of the Bulge.
“This change underscores the installation’s legacy of recognizing those who have demonstrated extraordinary service and sacrifice for the nation,” spokesman John Ullyot said in a statement.
The base was renamed from Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty in 2023, as part of a broader initiative by the Department of Defense to rename monuments and installations that had been named to honor Confederate soldiers.
The push was backed by a law passed by Congress in late 2020 in the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd. A provision in the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021” called for the removal of “all names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederate States of America…or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America.”
During his campaign trail last year, President Donald Trump attacked the name change and vowed to change it back if he won. Hegseth’s move of naming it after a different soldier named Bragg helps circumvent the law banning Confederate names of U.S. military assets.
The fort originally opened as “Camp Bragg” in September 1918. It was named after North Carolina native Braxton Bragg, who was a Confederate general and previously gained fame as a U.S. military hero during the Mexican-American War.
Camp Bragg became Fort Bragg in 1922, and a century later, became Fort Liberty after Congress passed an act in 2021 that ordered the Department of Defense to removes all names, symbols, displays, monuments and paraphernalia that honored anyone affiliated with the Confederate States of America. The name “Fort Liberty” became official in 2023.
According to the base’s website, Fort Bragg has approximately 57,000 military personnel, 11,000 civilian employees and 23,000 family members, numbers that make it one of the largest military complexes in the world.
Fort Bragg is home to several units, including the 82nd Airborne Division.
Source: Associated Press
