The Army made the Fort Liberty to Fort Bragg name change on Friday.
Fort Bragg’s public affairs office announced at noon on Friday that the name “Bragg” was back in place effective immediately.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Monday issued a memo telling the Army to change the name to “Fort Bragg,” but he did not set an effective date, leaving that up to the Army. The installation’s name remained “Fort Liberty” in the meantime.
“This renaming honors the legacy of World War II hero, Pvt. First Class Roland L. Bragg and all Soldiers and families who have called Fort Bragg home,” Friday’s announcement says.
“The renaming process will include updating all official documentation, signage, and digital platforms in a deliberate and phased manner,” it says. “We look forward to inviting the community to attend an official ceremony at date to be determined in the very near future.”
Roland L. Bragg was a paratrooper at Fort Bragg during World War II. He then served in the war in Europe and was awarded a Silver Star for gallantry.
Fort Bragg was first called Camp Bragg when its construction began in 1918. It was named in honor of Braxton Bragg, a North Carolina native who had been a captain in the Army in the 1800s. When the Civil War began in 1861, Braxton Bragg, a slaveholder, became a general for the Confederate Army and fought against the United States Army.
The country in the 20th century used taxpayer money to honor Confederate leaders by naming some of its military bases and other military assets for them despite these leaders’ history of waging war against the United States.
After a police officer killed a Black man, George Floyd, in 2020, and protests against police violence rocked the country, Republicans and Democrats in Congress united to remove the names of Confederate leaders from military bases, streets, buildings and other assets.
The name-change law (which Republican President Donald Trump tried to veto) prohibits the government from again putting Confederate names on military assets and properties.
Under the law, Fort Bragg became Fort Liberty in summer 2023.
Some people agreed with the change to Fort Liberty because the post was no longer honoring a Confederate general and slave owner.
Others criticized the Fort Liberty name, arguing that the name “Bragg” had lost its association with Braxton Bragg. They said “Bragg¨ instead came to symbolize the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who served their country at Fort Bragg over the past century.
Trump during a campaign stop in Fayetteville in 2024 said he would bring back the Fort Bragg name.
To comply with the name-change law, the new Fort Bragg name honors Roland L. Bragg instead of Braxton Bragg.
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This change to the hero of WWII was the sensible alternative in tgevfirst place and would have saved taxpayers millions of dollars.
Perhaps under Ft Bragg they should add the phrase home of Liberty for all.
I agree