FORT LEE, Va. — The Army post known for generations as Fort Lee was officially renamed Fort Gregg-Adams after Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams in a historic ceremony Thursday.
Lt. Col. Adams served during World War II and at age 25 was selected to command the first and only unit of predominately Black women deployed in Europe.
Upon his retirement, Lt. Gen. Gregg was the highest-ranking Black officer in the U.S military. With the renaming, Gregg becomes the first living person in modern U.S. history to have a base named after them.
"I want you to know how very proud I am, to share this very special honor with Lt. Colonel Charity Adams," Lt. Gen. Gregg, 94, said at Thursday's ceremony. "I hope this community will look with pride on the name Fort Gregg-Adams and that the name will instill pride in every soldier entering our mighty gates.”
Gregg enlisted as a private in the still segregated U.S. Army in January 1946 and spent the next 35 years climbing the ranks before retiring as a three-star general in 1981.
Adams was the first Black officer in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.
She commanded the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the “6-Triple 8”, and help manage the huge mail backlog in wartime Europe.
The unit was recently awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
The renaming of Fort Lee was part of a broader effort in the U.S. military to redesignate bases with names tied to the Confederacy.
"Fort Lee, one of the top Army logistics bases in the country, has borne the name of Confederate General Robert E. Lee for far too long," Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D - 4th District) said in a statement about the renaming. "Our nation’s military installations, facilities, and other properties should reflect the values our nation continuously strives to achieve – freedom, liberty, and justice – and their names should honor those who fought for those fundamental rights for every American."
The 6,000-acre post serves as a training facility for the Army and other military branches.
It supports more than 90,000 soldiers, retirees, veterans, family members, and civilian employees and contributes an estimated $2 billion a year to the regional economy.
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