Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted Wednesday that military veterans and active-duty troops urged the Trump administration to rename American military bases after Confederate traitors who took up arms against the government to defend the enslavement of Black people — a move the secretary claims is “important for morale.”
In his testimony to the Senate Armed Services committee, Hegseth defended the president’s decision to restore the names of several military bases in the South that were first named in honor of Confederate generals, despite Congress mandating their removal five years ago.
“It’s something we’ve been proud to do, something that’s important for the morale of the Army, and those communities appreciate that we’ve returned it back to what it was instead of playing this game of erasing names,” Hegseth said.
Donald Trump is restoring the previous base names — including Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Rucker, Fort Polk, Fort AP Hill and Fort Lee — but claims to be finding military veterans and officials of distinction who share the same last names as the original Confederate honorees.
Maine Sen. Angus King said he was “somewhat puzzled” by the president’s recent announcement to troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina — which was renamed Fort Liberty under Joe Biden — that his administration was restoring the names of several bases, including Virginia’s Fort Lee, which was initially named after Gen. Robert E. Lee before it was renamed Fort Gregg-Adams in 2023.
Lee is the “classic definition of a traitor,” King said.
“Why are you going through these incredible gymnastics, finding current soldiers or other soldiers to rename — and you slipped a minute ago, you said we’re returning these bases to their original names,” King said.
“Why are you doing this? I don’t understand what the motivation is to rename bases for people who took up arms against their country on behalf of slavery,” he added. “What possible motivation could there be for this? Who is telling you to do this? Who is urging you to do this?”
Hegseth said veterans and service members deployed from those bases share a “legacy” and a “connection” to the names.
“Thankfully, because so many men and women in this country have served, there’s a Benning and a Bragg and a Pickett and a Hood that has a silver star or medal of honor that we can rename the bases to,” he added.
Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel, disputed Hegseth’s claim that veterans like her who were deployed from those bases have asked for the names to be returned.
Duckworth, a former helicopter pilot who lost both her legs after her Black Hawk helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq, served Alabama’s Fort Rucker, named after confederate officer Edmund Rucker. The name was changed to honor Medal of Honor recipient Michael J. Novosel in 2023.
“I'd rather be associated with Mike Novosel than a failed confederate traitor,” Duckworth said.
Senators also rejected Hegseth’s claim that changing the base names is “erasing history.”
“We’re recognizing history, and recognizing mistakes have been made in this country,” King said. “The greatest of all was a civil war.”
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia asked Hegseth how the family of Arthur Gregg — the first African American in the U.S. Army to reach the rank of lieutenant general — reacted to news that the military base honoring his name would be reverted to Fort Lee.
“You didn’t call any of the families,” Kaine said. “The families were called by the press. That’s how they learned about this.”
He asked that Hegseth not issue any orders to change the names of those bases to continue to recognize “exemplary patriots” like Gregg. The secretary said notices to the bases will be delivered “soon.”
“We very much thank and appreciate them, and we’ll find ways to recognize them, but the orders will soon be going to those bases to change the names back to the original name that should have never been changed,” Hegseth said.
