How do Fayetteville residents feel about the renaming of Fort Bragg and other associated assets?

With the national Renaming Commission releasing its short list of alternative names for military installations commemorating Confederate soldiers, readers are weighing in.  

The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act mandates renaming Department of Defense property named for individuals who served with the Confederate Army during the Civil War. 

The national Naming Commission, which is tasked by Congress to oversee the process, released its list of 87 potential names last month.  

Fort Bragg is among eight other U.S. installations that will be renamed.  

It is named after North Carolina native Braxton Bragg, an artillery officer known for his role in the 1847 Battle of Buena Vista, Mexico. He later served as a Confederate general and is associated with being a slave owner and losing battles during the Civil War.   

Despite the Renaming Commission receiving input from Fayetteville and Cumberland County residents in September, one suggestion that received community support did not make the list.  

Grilley Mitchell, president of the Cumberland County Veterans Council, and Rep. Richard Hudson, whose district includes Fort Bragg, suggested that Fort Bragg remove its association with Confederate Gen. Bragg and instead rename it after his Union cousin, Edward S. Bragg. 

“I am concerned this list does not reflect views from our community and disappointed this commission has not engaged enough throughout this process,” Hudson said after the list was released.  

The list includes the names of service members who served at Fort Bragg such as Medal of Honor recipients Sgt. 1st Class William Bryant, Sgt. 1st Class William Joel, Master Sgt. Gary Gordon and Sgt. 1st Class Randall Shughart; 82nd Airborne Division Gens. Roscoe Robinson, James Gavin and Matthew Ridgway; and Capt. Kimberly Hampton, the Army’s first female combat pilot killed in action. Hampton's OH-58D Kiowa helicopter was shot down near Fallujah, Iraq on Jan. 2, 2004. 

What readers say

Several comments on the Fayetteville Observer’s Facebook page suggest that Fort Bragg keep its name.  

“Those of us that have (served) at Ft Bragg and the other installations will continue to call them by the names they were given,” Richard Norwood wrote.

Other readers sent emails suggesting Fort Bragg be renamed for Maj. Gen. William C. Lee who served during World War I and is considered the “father of the airborne.”  

Fayetteville resident Ron Bean wrote that Lee was a Dunn native. He noted that the Lee Fieldhouse that used to stand at Fort Bragg was named in Lee's honor.  

“Why can't the base whose claim to fame is airborne operations bear the name of the "Father of the U.S. Army Airborne,” Bean asked.  

Dunn resident Chuck Turnage, president of the Maj. Gen. William C. Lee Commission, who said he served 14 years at Fort Bragg and another 15 years as a civilian employee there, said he also supports renaming Fort Bragg after Lee.  

“(Lee is a) Dunn native son, who spearheaded the development, training and deployment of the airborne forces for the U.S. military,” Turnage said.  

C.B. Dickey said he was disappointed to see the commission didn’t consider his recommendations, which also included Lee and Laurinburg native Terry Sanford.  

“Why (Lee and Sanford) received such short shrift from the commission is unfathomable to me,” Dickey wrote. “Their local connections and service to the country are second to none.”  

Sanford was a University of North Carolina graduate who saw combat in Europe as a paratrooper, Dickey wrote.

After the war, Sanford was a U.S. senator, North Carolina governor and president of Duke University, Dickey said.  

Reader David Dickey (unknown if he's related to C.B. Dickey), asked why Gen. Douglas MacArthur wasn’t on the list.  

MacArthur served during World War I, was chief of staff of the Army and earned the Medal of Honor for his “leadership in preparing the Philippine Islands to resist conquest,” of invading Japanese forces during World War II, according to his citation.  

Theresa Kincade said she is a Fort Brag veteran and suggested renaming the installation Fort Honor “where veterans, soldiers and families have honor for the volunteers and soldiers from North, South, East and West of America.”  

John Flowers asked about renaming it Fort Delany, after Maj. Martin Robinson Delany, who became the Army’s first Black field officer serving with the Union during the Civil War.  

Chris Stanley said he is “appalled” about renaming the installation and that its history has nothing to do with Braxton Bragg.  

“(Fort Bragg) is the soldiers that trained there and the families that celebrated their loved ones return and mourning of the ones that didn’t,” Stanley said. “Fort Bragg is known worldwide for the paratroopers and special operations soldiers (who) train there and deploy from there. It’s not known for anything Braxton Bragg did. I feel it would be a great injustice to take the that away from all of us that called Fort Bragg home.”  

Stephen McGinley, who said he served with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg from 1988 to 1992, said he thinks the post should be renamed, along with all other installations named after Confederate generals.  

“Braxton Bragg is widely considered one of the worst generals of the Civil War,” McGinley said. 

He recommended naming it after Gen. James Gavin, whose name is on the national Renaming Commission’s list.  

Gavin was the first commander of the 82nd and the 18th Airborne Corps.  

The commission is required to have a plan by October that would detail a list of assets to be removed or renamed and the associated costs, and changes would go into effect by 2023.   

Other assets to be renamed

The installation isn’t the only thing that will be renamed.  

The renaming commission released a second list on March 30 of all assets that commemorate the Confederacy.  

In addition to military installations, the list includes streets, buildings, paintings, vessels, signs, and a dam, lake and lock. 

Cost estimates for renaming or removing items named in commemoration of the Confederacy will be included in the commission’s final recommendations to Congress due to the House Armed Services Committee and Senate Armed Services Committee by Oct. 1. 

“We will update the inventory list in collaboration with the Department of Defense, including its sub-agencies and the military branches, as we continue to identify assets within our area of consideration,” said retired Adm. Michelle Howard, chair of the Naming Commission. “This work is vital to understand the scope and estimated cost of renaming or removing Confederate-named assets, and will enable us to provide the most accurate report possible to Congress.” 

According to the Naming Commission, the following signs, roads and buildings at Fort Bragg will be renamed: 

• Fort Bragg Noncommissioned Officer Academy building sign.

• McKellar Lodge and its sign and McKellar Road named for Confederate Capt. John McKellar.

• Monroes Crossroad Battlefield Dedicated to the American Soldier, USA and CSA Cavalry Units.

• Towle Stadium Scoreboard, with Braxton Bragg’s name. 

• Fort Bragg NCO Academy Main Hall Freestanding sign. 

• Fort Bragg NCO Academy Parade Field sign. 

• 23 signs at access control points. 

• Simmons Army Airfield sign with Fort Bragg reference. 

• Six signs at the Mission Training Center. 

• Three signs at the All American Museum. 

• Two signs at Long Term Storage Lot Mod Village.

• Fort Bragg Courthouse sign. 

• Fort Bragg Sports USA sign. 

• 30 miscellaneous Fort Bragg faciity signs.

• Fort Bragg Soldier Support Center. 

• Womack Community Hospital sign with Bragg’s name. 

• Randolph Street named for Confederate Brig. Gen. George W. Randolph.

• Armistead Street named for Confederate Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead.

• Donelson Street named for Confederate soldier Daniel S. Donelson. 

• Alexander Street named for Confederate Brig. Gen. Edward Porter Alexander. 

• Bragg Boulevard.  

• Reilly Road named for James Reilly, the last Confederate commander of Fort Fisher. 

• Pelham Street named for Confederate artillery officer John Pelham 

• Mosby Street named for Confederate battalion commander John Singleton Mosby 

• Jackson Street named for Confederate Gen. Thomas Stonewall Jackson