Defense Secretary Hegseth is reverting Fort Liberty at North Carolina to its previous name, Fort Bragg, but not again for General Braxton Bragg of the Confederacy. The world’s largest military installation will now be a tribute to a World War II hero, Private First Class Roland Bragg.

“The naming of cats,” T.S. Eliot wrote in his poem by that name, “is a difficult matter,” and so it has become in America for everything from places to ships. Today’s hero may be tomorrow’s villain. Plotting a course that respects the past while looking to the future can be like herding Eliot’s titular felines.

Swapping a historical figure who falls out of favor with another of the same name is a cheap, easy solution. King County, Washington, was long named for Vice President William Rufus King, a slaveowner. That was changed in 1986 to an honor of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

The chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, tells the Sun via email that this is more than a historical or political debate. “It’s fundamentally,” he said, “about preserving the legacies of those who have served, sacrificed, and even lost friends while stationed” at Fort Bragg. “This legacy of service must be honored.”

Resetting the original name, Mr. Parnell said, ensures “the generational link and our shared history remain intact.” He added that “many service members” have contacted him to “express their gratitude,” citing serving at Fort Bragg, having fathers who deployed from there, and even being born on site.

Fort Bragg “matters deeply to those in the military community,” Mr. Parnell said, because it “isn’t just a name. It’s a symbol of courage, sacrifice, and the unbreakable bond of service.” He said it’s “not just about tradition” either. “It’s about acknowledging the legacy, history, and heart of everyone who has ever called it home.”

President Biden ignored those factors when he replaced “Bragg” in 2023 with the more generic word, “Liberty.” The move ensured that no one would again ask who the fort was named after, much less enjoy the odd tale of how a man reviled on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line earned the prestigious post.

General Bragg was “The Most Hated Man of the Confederacy,” as his biographer, Earl J. Hess, titled his 2016 account. He “earned a reputation for incompetence,” Mr. Hess wrote, “for wantonly shooting his own soldiers, and for losing battles.” The South made him a scapegoat for their loss and preferred to forget him.

So, unlike many places that Mr. Biden renamed, Fort Bragg wasn’t part of the North’s effort to soothe sectional divisions and promote post-war reconciliation. Instead, General Bragg benefited from the accident of his birth at North Carolina and having been an artillery officer in the war with Mexico.

In 1918, America’s chief of field artillery, General William Snow, needed a place to prepare Doughboys for World War I. His criteria, as listed on the Army’s website, were “suitable terrain, adequate water, rail facilities, access to a port, low population density, and a climate for year-round training.”

The spot at Fayetteville “met all the desired criteria,” but what to call it? Snow settled on that local artilleryman, General Bragg. In those days before America maintained a large, standing army, he couldn’t have imagined that the camp would last much less explode into the largest station of its kind on the globe.

The new honoree is a better fit. In “The Bitter Woods,” John Eisenhower, son of President Eisenhower, recounted how Private First Class Bragg, himself wounded, used a “captured German ambulance” to drive another man, “seriously wounded,” to the rear, saving his life.

“The new name,” a Department of Defense press release states, “pays tribute to Pfc. Roland L. Bragg … who earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his exceptional courage during the Battle of the Bulge.” Nazi Germany’s last-ditch effort to force the Allies back into the sea failed thanks to such acts of bravery.

In August of 2022, The New York Sun issued in an editorial suggesting that “the big scoop” from the congressional report on renaming military bases was this:  “There really are a lot of American heroes, who are well worth commemorating via our military forts, bases, and arsenals.”

Americans can hope that Private First Class Bragg proves a unifying figure, and that his name will be fixed for good. For now, all who have, do, or will serve can rest easy. This key part of their legacy endures — and they once again stand on the shoulders of all who marched from Fort Bragg ahead of them into history.