Back in February, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth restored the Fort Bragg name to the famed North Carolina Army base, albeit ostensibly after Silver Star recipient Roland Bragg rather than original namesake Braxton Bragg, an infamous Confederate. Shortly thereafter, he applied a similar maneuver to the Columbus, Georgia base that had been briefly renamed to honor Vietnam legend Hal Moore and his wife Julia, bringing back Fort Benning with, you guessed it, a different Benning as the ostensible honoree.
Now, President Donald Trump is doing this on a wholesale basis.
NYT (“Trump Says Army Bases Will Revert to Confederate Names“):
President Trump, during a speech at Fort Bragg, N.C., said on Tuesday that he would restore the names of all Army bases that were named for Confederate generals but were ordered changed by Congress in the waning days of his first administration.
His move skirts the law mandating the removal of Confederate symbols from the military through the same maneuver used to restore the name of Fort Bragg, which was briefly renamed Fort Liberty. In a statement, the Army said it would “take immediate action” to restore the old names of the bases originally honoring Confederates, but the base names would instead honor other American soldiers with similar names and initials.
For example, Fort Eisenhower in Georgia, honoring President Dwight D. Eisenhower — who led the D-Day landings during World War II — would revert to the name Fort Gordon, once honoring John Brown Gordon, the Confederate slave owner and suspected Ku Klux Klan member. This time around, however, the Army said the base would instead honor Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, who fought in the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia.
Mr. Trump, however, contradicted that explanation in his announcement, at one point saying that the Army would be “restoring” the name of one Army base in Virginia — Fort Gregg-Adams — to “Fort Robert E. Lee,” previously named for the commander of the Confederate army. The Army said in its statement that the base would be renamed to honor Pvt. Fitz Lee, a member of the all-Black Buffalo Soldiers who was awarded a Medal of Honor after serving in the Spanish-American War.
Mr. Trump made the announcement as he took a victory lap for the renaming of the Army installation at Fort Bragg, N.C., which had been originally named for Braxton Bragg, the Confederate general. Fort Bragg was renamed to Fort Liberty after Congress moved to strip the base of its Confederate name in 2020, mandating a new one.
“Can you believe they changed that name in the last administration for a little bit?” Mr. Trump asked, as soldiers in the crowd loudly booed. “Fort Bragg is in. That’s the name. And Fort Bragg it shall always remain. That’s never going to be happening again.”
Steven Taylor has already addressed the civil-military relations issues of politicizing the military in this way.
As I’ve noted many times as this issue has unfolded over the years, few of us gave much thought to the naming of these bases until recently. Most of the figures have long since been forgotten. Even the likes of Leonard Wood, who was a legendary officer in his time, have faded into obscurity despite a Missouri base being named after him. Folks who had been assigned to “Fort Bragg,” “Fort Benning,” “Fort Rucker,” “Fort Hood” and the like simply think of a base, not the person for whom it was named.
Despite their being Medal of Honor recipients, I had never heard of MSG Gordon or PFC Lee until this morning. But, of course, no one will call the bases “Fort Gary Gordon” or “Fort Fitz Lee.” And, in the latter case, most will do what Trump did and naturally associate the latter with Robert E. Lee.
“Fort Liberty” was an abomination and some of the figures chosen for the new names were obscure. But it’s a shame to lose Fort Eisenhower and Fort Moore. They’re American soldiers well deserving of the honor and people were quickly getting used to the new names. Over time, people would no longer have needed to translate (Which one is Novosel? The one that used to be Rucker?).
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Author: James Joyner
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