Fort Bragg, the largest military base in the United States, was renamed Fort Liberty on Friday, dropping the name of a pro-slavery Confederate general.
My head felt like it weighed a thousand pounds as we took off in the F-16 fighter aircraft. Easing into the turns, I could feel my compression suit thrusting the blood from my legs all the way to my head. What a rush.
The renaming of Fort Pickett is part of a broader Department of Defense effort to rename military installations that were named after members of the Confederacy.
An independent commission on Tuesday recommended new names for nine Army posts that commemorated Confederate officers. The commission suggested Fort Pickett, in Nottoway County, Virginia, be renamed Fort Barfoot after Tech. Sgt. Van T. Barfoot.