Fort Liberty, North Carolina, is being renamed Fort Bragg in honor of Pfc. Roland Bragg, a Silver Star recipient who served during World War II.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the change in a Feb. 10 memo to honor Bragg and “in recognition of the installation’s storied history of service to the United States of America.”

In 2023, the post was renamed Fort Liberty following the recommendations of an eight-member commission that was tasked by Congress to remove Confederate names, symbols, displays and monuments from DoD properties.

When Fort Bragg was established in 1918, it was named for Confederate Army officer Braxton Bragg. The return of the name Bragg to the North Carolina post now honors the decorated World War II soldier, a native of Sabattus, Maine.

Pfc. Bragg enlisted in the Army and was assigned to the 17th Airborne Division’s 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the XVIII Airborne Corps at the post that bears his name.

He was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart for heroics during the Battle of the Bulge, according to Hegseth’s memo. Bragg is credited with saving another soldier’s life by “commandeering an enemy ambulance and driving it 20 miles” to an Allied hospital in Belgium, the memo says.

Bragg died in January 1999. He was 75.

“Fort Bragg has a long and proud history of equipping, training and preparing our soldiers to fight and prevail in any operational environment,” Hegseth’s memo says. This directive “honors the personal courage and selfless service of all those who have trained to fight and win our nation’s wars, including Pfc. Bragg and is in keeping with the installation’s esteemed and storied history.”

The memo directs the secretary of the Army to “take all steps necessary and appropriate actions to implement this decision in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.” The Army is to inform the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment of its plans, including timelines and resource requirements, for implementation of this decision, the memo says.

In addition to the 2023 redesignation of Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty, eight other Army installations were renamed.

Three are in Virginia—Fort Barfoot, formerly Fort Pickett; Fort Gregg-Adams, which was Fort Lee; and Fort Walker, formerly Fort A.P. Hill. The others are Fort Novosel, formerly Fort Rucker, in Alabama; Fort Cavazos, formerly Fort Hood, in Texas; Fort Moore, formerly Fort Benning, in Georgia; Fort Eisenhower, formerly Fort Gordon, in Georgia; and Fort Johnson, formerly Fort Polk, in Louisiana.