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Last year, a commission created by Congress recommended new
names for nine bases that honored Confederate officers, after
the nationwide protests following the 2020 police killing of
George Floyd prompted the military to re-examine its history
through the lens of race.
In a video on Friday announcing the change, the Army said the
base is the only one to be named after a value, rather than a
person.
"No value has proven more integral to the United States and the
history of its military than liberty," the video said.
Established in 1918, the North Carolina base was originally
named for General Braxton Bragg, who served in the Confederate
Army during the 19th-century U.S. Civil War. It houses the
Airborne and Special Operations Forces and is home to 53,700
troops, according to its website.
The next base to change names will be Fort Polk in Louisiana,
which will become Fort Johnson later this month in honor of
Henry Johnson, a Black soldier lauded for his heroism in World
War One combat.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Additional reporting by Tyler Clifford;
Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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