Latest news with #NorthCarolinaArmy
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fort Bragg name changed back from Fort Liberty
The Brief The North Carolina Army installation is officially known as Fort Bragg again, after being Fort Liberty since 2023. The name change is in honor of a World War II paratrooper and Silver Star recipient from Maine, Pfc. Roland L. Bragg. It was officially named in honor of Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg. The North Carolina Army installation, one of the largest military installations in the world, is officially named Fort Bragg again. It had been known as Fort Liberty since the summer of 2023. Here's what was behind the multiple name changes: Timeline The back-and-forth of the North Carolina military site dates back a few years. 1918: The base takes its Fort Bragg name for Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg. June 2023: Fort Bragg shed its namesake and became known as Fort Liberty amid a drive to remove symbols of the Confederacy from public spaces. Feb. 2025: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed an order to revert the name change, honoring a new namesake: Army Pfc. Roland L. Bragg. What they're saying Hegseth says the rededication honors an American hero and restores a name that soldiers knew and revered for over a century. By the numbers The Army said in 2023 that changing the name to Fort Liberty would cost $8 million. North Carolina's Department of Transportation said last month that it anticipated replacing dozens of road signs at a cost of over $200,000. The backstory The North Carolina base was originally named in 1918 for Gen. Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general from Warrenton, North Carolina, who was known for owning slaves and losing key Civil War battles that contributed to the Confederacy's downfall. Big picture view Several military bases were named after Confederate soldiers during World War I and World War II as part of a "demonstration of reconciliation" with white southerners amid a broader effort to rally the nation to fight as one, Nina Silber, a historian at Boston University, previously explained to The Associated Press. RELATED: Pentagon orders removal of 26,000+ military images under Trump's DEI ban Dig deeper Bragg was a World War II paratrooper and Silver Star recipient from Maine. Before his deployment, he trained at the North Carolina post, his family said during Friday's renaming ceremony. Bragg, who served with the 17th Airborne Division, received the Silver Star and a Purple Heart for exceptional courage during the Battle of the Bulge. He was captured by Germans and commandeered an ambulance back to safety with a few wounded paratroopers, one of which survived, Lt. Gen. Greg Anderson said during the ceremony. RELATED: Fort Liberty reverts to Fort Bragg—but with a new namesake What they're saying The Liberty-to-Bragg reversion was made without first consulting with Roland Bragg's family, but his daughter was delighted by it. His granddaughter described him as a "strong, hardworking and proud" man who didn't discuss his military service in World War II very openly. What's next Hegseth announced this week that Georgia's Fort Moore would revert back to Fort Benning. Originally named for Confederate Brig. Gen. Henry L. Benning, it will now honor Cpl. Fred G. Benning, a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross who served in France during World War I. The Source Information in this article was taken from remarks during the renaming ceremony on March, 7, 2025, as covered by The Associated Press. Background information was taken from an order signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in February, and previous FOX Television Station and Associated Press reportings. This story was reported from Detroit.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Readers sound off on Confederate sympathies, NATO contributions and Paul Simon's roots
Opelika, Ala.: On July 4, 1776, the hallowed Founding Fathers declared America's independence. However, the only beneficiaries were white men. White women languished as quasi-citizens denied the vote. Black men, women and even children enriched enslavers, toiling without pay. Furthermore, the brutes heaped upon them barbarities too vile to mention. In addition, Black women and girls were ravished and raped with impunity by the reprobates. Black people were dinner guests, but were forced to watch the white diners imbibe and ingest in a vulgar and vainglorious orgy. On March 21, 1861, so-called Confederate States Vice President Alexander H. Stephens made his Cornerstone Speech. He railed that the Confederate States' foundation is that the Black man is inferior to the white man, thus subordination to the superior race is the Black person's natural condition. Stephens' perverse and poisonous lies encouraged terrorists three weeks later to bombard Fort Sumter, inciting the Civil War. More than 160 years later, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth still coddles and commiserates with evildoers like Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg. He had the audacity to say removing Bragg's name from a North Carolina Army base was a shame. Of course, he didn't denounce slavery's innumerable horrors, and its degenerate twin, white supremacy. By retaining an association with Bragg, Hegseth manifests his depraved mind and his willingness to advocate and perpetuate white supremacy. By contrast, John Brown's compassion for oppressed Black people compelled him and his cohorts to storm the Harpers Ferry federal armory to facilitate a slave liberation. Brown was arrested, charged with treason, convicted and hanged two months later. Hegseth's sympathy for white supremacy creates a stench worse than a truck laden with rotting pig guts. Marc D. Greenwood Camden, N.J.: We all heard during President Trump's campaign that he has done more for African-Americans than anyone since Abraham Lincoln. I beg to differ. Domestically, Lincoln took on the global issue of slavery as it existed in his heyday. Back then, promises were made to the newly freed enslaved that had never been fully enacted. Trump has yet to award a comprehensible 'Black job' to a person of color and merit. Plenty of African-Americans of prominent political status supported Trump, but had never been granted or considered for a major cabinet position in his administration. Now, during his first weeks in his highly contested second term, Trump dismantled diversity, equity and inclusion, the initiative that focused on improving skills of workers for our society's most elite workforce. But he sees it differently. I would like to view Trump's list of notable accomplishments for African-Americans. As a Black man, I need clarity. Wayne E. Williams Rockaway Point: Despicable! The richest man in the world (Elon Musk) and the luckiest man in the world (Trump) are firing thousands of government workers as part of Project 2025's plan to reshape our government into an autocracy — a plan so reprehensible to most Americans that Trump disavowed any knowledge of or connection to it at his campaign rallies! Despicable! Patricia J. Murphy Charlotte, N.C.: Four plane accidents since Trump was inaugurated four weeks ago. Just maybe this isn't the best time to slash budgets at the FAA. Do we really want the air traffic controllers worrying about getting fired while they're working? Barbara Haynes Providence, R.I.: Re 'Trump must not betray Ukraine' (editorial, Feb. 18): Trump must not betray Ukraine / Trump must not increase the pain / Here's a wider urgent call / Trump must not betray us all. Felicia Nimue Ackerman Paris: Voicer Paul Bloustein's comment on Joe Biden using 'dilatory tactics' in dealing with Russia, which he claims led to the Russian military invasion into the sovereign territory of Ukraine, sounds like it came directly from the mouth of America's current man-child, incoherent, master vocabulary-weaving Trump. Please enlighten everyone, Mr. Bloustein, on exactly where Biden was slow in his reactions that caused the war? Perhaps Biden should have flown to Helsinki and knelt in fealty to Vladimir Putin like Trump did in 2018? Of course, Trump, as you put it, 'knows he can strike a deal with Putin' because Trump does not have the courage to deny Putin any of his demands. The rest of Europe will not roll over to allow the Russian despot to seize Ukraine. If the American president is not courageous enough to stand up to Putin, Europe will show him how it's done. John Clouseau Manhattan: So many times when NATO and expenditures are discussed, they are discussed in terms of what percentage of GDP member nations will spend on the defense of their countries. That is not the only thing to consider. We must also consider the lives of the service members. In World War I and World War II, millions of Americans fought in Europe. Hundreds of thousands died. More than 100,000 never came home and are buried in Belgium, England, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. More than 20,000 are listed as missing in action. The cost is more than at least 2% of GDP. Elizabeth Bettina Nicolosi Hallandale, Fla.: With a jaundiced eye on the subject enclave, Trump sets his focus on turning the ruins of Gaza into a glittering resort area. But does he excoriate Benjamin Netanyahu for the genocide and massive cruelty he engendered? Does he insist that Bibi abide by the terms of the ceasefire that require thousands of tents and mobile homes to reach Gaza's tormented citizens? Of course not. This would upset his vision for a grand mecca in the desert. But Palestinians would rather perish than be forced to vacate their sacred, time-honored homeland. Sid Sussman Bronx: To Voicer Jack Cregan: I'll try this again with. The murder of innocents like Laken Riley at the hands of illegal immigrants can not be considered 'statistically negligible' when they are, in fact (not conjecture), 100% preventable. Chuck Shannon Middle Village: Voicer David Moretti made some excellent observations regarding the root causes of traffic congestion in Manhattan. The huge increase in for-hire vehicles and the vast decrease in traffic lanes due to bicycle and bus lanes played a large role in the problem. However, there are three additional issues that intensified this mess. First, the city added burdensome traffic rules preventing drivers from making left or right turns on crosstown streets, forcing everybody to add to the congestion. And let's not forget the reduction in parking spaces due to Citi Bikes, bus lanes and bicycle lanes, creating a situation where drivers circle around and around looking for a place to park. But the most frustrating issue is pedestrians crossing against the light. This prevents drivers from going through an intersection, which creates gridlock. Bottom line is that the new congestion pricing tolls do nothing to address these core problems. Lee Rottenberg Bronx: Mayor Adams has the gift of glibness as he sprinkles quips and rhymes into his sound bites. He's a modern-day Muhammad Ali without the talent or likability. I offer him a couple of pithy words he can ad lib when his back is against the ropes: 'You expect me to tighten up, but I always lighten up'; 'When folks say fold up, I say hold up'; 'There's no trial can erase my smile'; 'Others may desert me, but God will never hurt me.' Adams has a phrase for every evasion. Fred Smith Avon-by-the-Sea, N.J.: Another daily had a photo of Gov. Hochul meeting with a 'key advisor,' the Rev. Al Sharpton. Kathy should have arrested Al, as he is a deadbeat. He has not paid one cent on a judgement levied against him for lying in the Tawana Brawley farce. He is hiding behind his title. Truly not a man of God. Robert Stiloski White Plains, N.Y.: The Paul Simon article ('Paul Simon unretires for 20-city tour with weeklong NYC show,' Feb. 19) refers to Simon as a Newark native. Yes, he was born in New Jersey, but four years later his parents moved to Queens. There he grew up and met Art Garfunkel. The rest is history. To me, he'll always be a native New Yorker. Randi Bernstein Feigenbaum
