Fort Lee in Virginia will be officially renamed Fort Gregg-Adams after two Black officers who made significant contributions to the U.S. Army.
The post is one of nine Army bases that will be renamed as part of redesignating bases named after Confederate leaders, according to the Army.
“We are deeply honored to have Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams as the new namesakes for our installation,” Maj. Gen. Mark Simerly, commander of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command and senior commander of Fort Lee, said in the statement.
Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg is 94 years old and will be the only living person in modern Army history to have an installation named after him, according to the Army. Gregg’s military service lasted almost 36 years, and he experienced the challenges of desegregating the armed forces. He retired in 1981, he was the highest ranking Black officer in the U.S. military.
According to NBC News,
In 1942, Lt. Col. Charity Adams served in the newly created Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, where she was later selected to command the first and only unit of predominantly Black women to serve overseas during World War II. She led the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, which was crucial to disseminating 17 million pieces of mail and correspondence for soldiers across England and France during the height of the war.
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