This is an article from the February 2025 Civitas Examiner (Volume 2, No. 1) and was written by one of our students, Benjamin Y. The opinions expressed herein do not reflect those of Civitas other than respect for the value of open dialogue. To read more Civitas Examiner stories or to submit your own, click here.
On February 10, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum officially reverting the name of Fort Liberty to Fort Bragg, albeit with a new namesake: Roland Bragg instead of the controversial Braxton Bragg. However, his choice is proving to be just as controversial as the original namesake, if not more.
Braxton Bragg was a Confederate general who some believe to be singlehandedly responsible for the Confederate defeat. He was also a notoriously brash military commander, his tactics mostly revolving around random frontal attacks and using nothing more than numbers of troops to calculate the possibility of success. Historians speculate that he had bipolar disorder, as he would oscillate between periods of intense rage and bloodlust and others of paranoia and complete refusal to move troops. But his actions against members of his own army set him apart as one of the most disturbing figures in the civil war. He would frequently execute people for minor offenses, including in one case Asa Lewis, accused of desertion after he briefly left camp to visit his widowed mother for Christmas. Immediately before the execution, Bragg said that “You Kentuckians are too independent for the good of the army. I’ll shoot every one of [you] if I have to.” One soldier attempted to murder Bragg by placing a 12-pound artillery shell under his mattress. When the shell exploded, he was injured but refused to seek medical treatment until the soldier was executed.
In short, nothing should be named after Braxton Bragg. He was a ruthless man who was willing to disregard human life and even murder to advance his cause. And anyways, he was on the other side of the Civil War! Having a military installment named after him is comparable to naming one after a Nazi commander.
In 2023, after pressure from Black Lives Matter activists to remove symbols of the Confederacy, many statues of and monuments to Confederate figures were removed, as well as legislation passed to ensure that no new Confederate monuments or namings would occur. Most importantly for this story, Fort Bragg was renamed Fort Liberty.
Private First Class Roland L. Bragg, the fort’s new namesake, was born in 1923. He served in World War II and fought at the Battle of the Bulge. He received a Purple Heart for sustaining injuries but still being able to steal a German ambulance and transport a wounded soldier across enemy lines to get medical attention. He was once captured by German soldiers but escaped because both he and his captors were Masons. He should absolutely have something named after him, but not this.
In this action, Pete Hegseth has circumvented the law requiring that no Confederate names be honored with dedications. He has engaged in an action that will cost upwards of 8 million dollars to enact. And most of all, he has made Roland Bragg, a war hero who deserves honor, a simple stand-in for an evil man.
