(The Center Square) – Posthumously honoring a soldier from World War II, the world’s largest military base in North Carolina will become known again as Fort Bragg.
The home of the 82nd Airborne and Special Operations Forces, commonly known as the place where a president of the United States places his 911 call, got the name change late Monday evening from Defense Department Secretary Pete Hegseth in a memorandum. The Army base officially adopted the moniker Fort Liberty on June 2, 2023.
Honored in the change of name is Pfc. Roland Bragg from World War II. Bragg, of Sabattus, Maine, was born in 1923 and assigned to the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division of the 18th Airborne Corps.
According to Hegseth’s memo, Bragg was in the European theater of operations.
During “hellish conditions and amidst ferocious fighting” at the Battle of the Bulge, Hegseth wrote, Bragg saved a fellow soldier’s life by commandeering an enemy ambulance and driving it 20 miles to transport him to an allied hospital in Belgium. He was awarded the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity, and the Purple Heart for wounds.
“Fort Bragg has a long and proud history of equipping, training and preparing our soldiers to fight and prevail in any operational environment,” Hegseth wrote. “This directive honors the personal courage and selfless service of all those who have trained to fight and win our nation’s wards, including Pfc. Bragg, and is in keeping with the installation’s esteemed and storied history.”
Hegseth signed the memorandum aboard a C-17 flying from Joint Base Andrews to Stuttgart, Germany.
Fort Bragg was established Sept. 4, 1918, to develop and strengthen the U.S. Army. The original name was for Gen. Braxton Bragg, honored for his courageous acts in the Mexican-American war.
The 82nd provides the Global Response Force. U.S. Army Special Operations Command is headquartered on the base that is home to the 53,700 troops and 14,000 working civilians.
Fort Bragg supports a population of 260,000 when including military families, contractors, retirees and others. It covers 284.5 miles across 172,000 acres, with 1,400 miles of paved roads and 23 miles of railroad.
In a post to social media, the congressman representing the area inclusive of the base, Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., wrote, “Fort Bragg is back! Thank you, @SecDef!”
