By Dr. Carl B. Mack
In 2023, under former President Joe Biden, the United States took a long-overdue step toward reconciling its military history with its democratic ideals by renaming nine Army installations that had honored Confederate leaders. Guided by a bipartisan Naming Commission established by Congress, the changes replaced the names of those who voluntarily served in the Confederate army with those of distinguished American service members, including trailblazing Black soldiers whose valor and leadership had long gone unrecognized. Now, under President Donald Trump, several of those changes are being reversed through what critics describe as a “surname loophole,” reigniting debate over whether the nation chooses to elevate those who fought against the Union or those who defended it.
The backdrop to all of this is the 2021 William M. Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act, which was passed by Congress to remove Confederate honors from military installations. It should be noted that the Thornberry bill was passed with broad bipartisan support. However, President Trump vetoed the legislation. Clapping back at him, Congress successfully overrode his veto on January 1, 2021, to make it law.
As a result of this law, the Department of Defense was legally required to implement the plan set forth by the Naming Commission to rename the following U.S. military bases, all of which are located in the southern parts of the United States:
• Fort Liberty (North Carolina) – Formerly Fort Bragg
• Fort Moore (Georgia) – Formerly Fort Benning
• Fort Gregg-Adams (Virginia) – Formerly Fort Lee
• Fort Cavazos (Texas) – Formerly Fort Hood
• Fort Eisenhower (Georgia) – Formerly Fort Gordon
• Fort Johnson (Louisiana) – Formerly Fort Polk
• Fort Novosel (Alabama) – Formerly Fort Rucker
• Fort Walker (Virginia) – Formerly Fort A.P. Hill
• Fort Barfoot (Virginia) – Formerly Fort Pickett
Now in his second term, Trump decided to Make the Bases Great Again by restoring them to their original names. Recognizing that the law prohibits U.S. bases from being named after Confederate traitors, the Trump Administration simply found other members who served in the military and stated that the bases were named in their honor. To better understand their deception, let’s take a look at U.S. military bases named in honor of Blacks and how Trump returned the bases to their original names.
Fort Lee was originally named in honor of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, a graduate of West Point and commanding general of the Confederate Army. The fort was established in 1917 and named in honor of the Confederate traitor. In April 2023, it was renamed Fort Gregg-Adams in honor of Arthur J. Gregg and Charity Adams Earley.
Now, let’s talk about the historical significance of brother Gregg and sista Adams Earley.
Arthur J. Gregg was born in Florence, South Carolina, on May 11, 1928. The youngest of nine children, at the age of 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. During his illustrious 35-year career, Gregg was stationed at Fort Lee several times. On October 1, 1972, he earned his first star, becoming a brigadier general. Five years and two stars later, Gregg became the first Black person to become a three-star lieutenant general in the U.S. Army.
One other historical note about Lt. General Gregg: at the time of the renaming of the base in his honor in 2023, he became the only living soldier in modern history to have a U.S. military installation named in his honor. He passed on August 22, 2024, at the age of 96.
Charity Adams Earley was born on December 5, 1918, in Kittrell, North Carolina. However, she considered Columbia, South Carolina, her home because that is where she spent most of her childhood. A brilliant sista, she graduated valedictorian from Booker T. Washington High School. She earned a degree in math, physics, and Latin from Wilberforce University in Ohio in 1938. In 1942, she joined the military as part of the first class of Black women to join the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps.
Right about now, you should be thinking The Six Triple Eight and Kerry Washington. Yeah, in the 2024 Tyler Perry movie, Washington starred as Charity Adams. She commanded the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all-Black, all-female unit to serve overseas during the war. Continuing her education, in 1946, Earley earned her Master of Arts degree in psychology from Ohio State University.
So these are the two giants for whom Fort Lee was renamed Fort Gregg-Adams. Now let’s focus on the sleight-of-hand.
In April 2023, Trump, playing within the law, renamed Fort Gregg-Adams back to Fort Lee. Expecting pushback, he told the American public the fort was renamed in honor of … are y’all ready for this? Private Fitz Lee!
Now hold on, Brotha Lee was solid, and I ain’t about to throw shade on him!
Why? Because Private Fitz Lee was a Buffalo Soldier and Medal of Honor recipient!
He was born in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, in June 1866. Joining the U.S. Army, he served in Company M of the 10th Cavalry Regiment, one of the original Buffalo Soldiers units. During the Spanish-American War, in the Battle of Tayabacoa on June 30, 1898, Private Lee and four other soldiers volunteered to rescue an American landing party that was pinned down by heavy fire from Spanish forces. They rowed a small boat to the beach and rescued wounded survivors. For his heroism, in 1899, President William McKinley awarded Lee the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest medal for valor in combat.
In this case, Trump traded two Blacks for one. However, before you start ruling out racism, when you think of Fort Lee, can you truly tell me you are thinking of Private Fitz Lee versus General Robert E. Lee?
As for Fort Polk, it was originally named in honor of a Confederate lieutenant general from Louisiana named Leonidas Polk. It was renamed in 2023 to Fort Johnson in honor of a Harlem Hellfighter, Sgt. William Henry Johnson. That’s what they called the members of the all-Black 369th Infantry Regiment that fought in WWI.
Johnson was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and later moved to Albany, New York. Having joined the 15th New York National Guard Regiment in 1917, the unit was federalized as the 369th. Shipped off to France and under the command of the French, the unit eventually occupied Outpost 20, which was just on the edge of the Argonne Forest. On May 14, 1918, Johnson and Needham Roberts were ambushed by a group of about 20 German soldiers. Wounded by a grenade, Roberts was taken by the Germans. Johnson, suffering from wounds of his own and low on ammunition, pulled off an ambush of his own. He used his rifle as a club, then grabbed his bolo knife and engaged in hand-to-hand combat. He rescued Roberts, and the Germans nicknamed him Black Death. The French called him a hero and made him the first American during WWI to receive the country’s highest award for bravery, the Croix de Guerre with Palm.
Returning to America in February 1919, on June 2, 2015, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Sgt. William Henry Johnson America’s highest military award, the Medal of Honor.
Honoring traitors over Black patriots, Trump slumped into the mud of racism using the surname loophole and, in 2025, renamed Fort Johnson to Fort Polk after General James H. Polk, a WWII and Cold War commander.
But regardless of what names are restored or replaced, the historical record cannot be erased. Fort Gregg-Adams honored Lt. General Arthur J. Gregg and Charity Adams Earley. Fort Johnson honored Sgt. William Henry Johnson. These were not symbolic gestures. They were acknowledgments of courage, leadership, sacrifice, and service to a nation that did not always fully serve them in return.
Policies may change. Signage may change. Political winds may shift. But history remains.
Arthur J. Gregg. Charity Adams Earley. William Henry Johnson. Private Fitz Lee.
Their names deserve to be known. Their stories deserve to be told. And their contributions deserve to be remembered.
Dr. Carl B. Mack is the former President of the Seattle King County NAACP, and former Executive Director of the National Society of Black Engineers.
