President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that seven Army bases will revert to names that once honored Confederate leaders but will now take the names of nine highly decorated U.S. Army soldiers of the same name.
“For a little breaking news, we are also going to be restoring the names to Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Rucker, Fort Polk, Fort A.P. Hill, and Fort Robert E. Lee,” Trump said while speaking at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. “We won a lot of battles out of those forts. It’s no time to change. And I’m superstitious. I like to keep it going.”
Minutes after Trump’s speech, the Army announced those names would now honor nine soldiers from five conflicts whose names match the original Confederate leaders for each base. The name changes mirror the previous name reversions ordered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Fort Liberty is Fort Bragg again, and Fort Moore in Georgia has gone back to being named Fort Benning, but both installations now honor two previously obscure soldiers of the same names from World War I and World War II.
The new soldiers include five who received the Medal of Honor, three who were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, and one who received the Silver Star.
The bases and their new namesakes are:
- Fort Gordon, Georgia, formerly Fort Eisenhower, will honor Master Sgt. Gary I. Gordon, perhaps the best-known soldier among the new namesakes. Gordon, a Delta Force soldier, was awarded the Medal of Honor after he volunteered to defend wounded crew members at a helicopter crash site during the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia. He held off an advancing enemy force to protect a wounded pilot until he was killed.
- Fort Pickett, Virginia, renamed from Fort Barfoot, will be named for 1st Lt. Vernon W. Pickett, a Distinguished Service Cross recipient in World War II. The Army did not provide details on Pickett’s unit nor where he fought, noting in a release that he was captured and escaped after a battle, rejoined his unit and was eventually killed in action.
- Fort Hood, Texas, formerly Fort Cavazos, will be named for Col. Robert B. Hood, a Distinguished Service Cross recipient in World War I. While under heavy shelling near Thiaucourt, France, the Army said, then-Capt. Hood “directed artillery fire under enfilading machine-gun fire. After his gun crew was lost to enemy fire, he rapidly reorganized and returned fire within minutes.”
- Fort Lee, Virginia, formerly Fort Gregg-Adams, will be named in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Pvt. Fitz Lee, a Black Buffalo Soldier, for his heroism during the Spanish-American War. During a coastal assault in Cuba, Lee voluntarily disembarked under direct enemy fire to rescue wounded comrades from the battlefield.
- Fort Polk, Louisiana, formerly Fort Johnson, will be named in honor of Silver Star recipient Gen. James H. Polk for his gallantry in action as commanding officer of the 3rd Cavalry Group (Mechanized) during operations across Europe in World War II. Then-Col. Polk led reconnaissance and combat missions under fire, spearheading Third Army advances as part of Task Force Polk. He later served as the commander of U.S. Army Europe.
- Fort Rucker, Alabama, formerly Fort Novosel, the home of Army aviation, will continue to be named after an Army aviator. Capt Edward W. Rucker was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in World War I as a pilot for missions over France.
- Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, formerly Fort Walker, will be named for three Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: Lt. Col. Edward Hill, 1st Sgt. Robert A. Pinn and Pvt. Bruce Anderson. The three earned the Medal of Honor at different engagements at Cold Harbor, Virginia; Chapin’s Farm, Virginia; and Fort Fisher, North Carolina.
A total of nine Army bases that bore the names of Confederates were renamed in 2022 and 2023 following recommendations by an official naming commission.
Trump said he was asked why he didn’t wait to announce the name changes to the other seven bases at the Army’s 250th birthday parade on Saturday in Washington, D.C.
“I said ‘I can’t wait,’” Trump added.
UPDATE: 06/10/2025; this story was updated after the Army clarified that Fort Walker, Virginia, will be renamed Fort A.P. Hill.
The latest on Task & Purpose
- A Marine Corps reply-all email apocalypse has an incredible real-life ending
- Army shuts down its sole active-duty information operations command
- Army plans to close more than 20 base museums in major reduction
- Former Green Beret nominated to top Pentagon position to oversee special ops
- The Navy’s new recruiting commercial puts the ‘dirt wars’ in the past
Task & Purpose Video