WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has signed an order 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 a Pentagon spokesman said Monday that 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 the 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.
On Tuesday, the Army released an initial service verification for Bragg, who was born in Webster, Maine, and served as a toxic gas handler from July 1943 to November 1945. Bragg deployed to England from August 1944 to August 1945 and left the Army in the rank of private first class, said Army spokesman Maj. Travis Shaw.
Bragg's awards include the World War II Victory Medal, the Silver Star Medal, the Purple Heart Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze stars, a Parachute Badge and a Combat Infantry Badge, Shaw said.
The choice of the World War II private first class got around a law prohibiting the military from naming a base after a Confederate leader.
In a video he posted on X announcing that he was renaming the base, Hegseth said: “That's right. Bragg is back!”
In reality, the base had still been widely known as Bragg, the new name having not really taken hold. On Hegseth's first official day as defense secretary he made a point of calling it Fort Bragg in his first exchange with reporters.
The renaming also adds cost when President Donald Trump's administration is trying to find savings through it's Department of Government Efficiency. The 2022 base renaming commission estimated that renaming Bragg, including all the signage, paint jobs on police and emergency responder vehicles and other items, would cost at least $6.3 million. In 2023, the base said the total costs were going to be around $8 million.