Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum Monday to change the name of Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg, but it comes with a unique twist.

Hegseth announced via a statement that Fort Liberty will be renamed for Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a World War II hero, instead of Braxton Bragg, a Confederate officer during the Civil War for whom the Army installation near Fayetteville was originally named when it opened in 1918. 

Braxton Bragg was known for owning slaves and losing key Civil War battles, contributing to the Confederacy’s downfall.

Roland L. Bragg earned a Silver Star and Purple Heart for service during the Battle of the Bulge, according to the statement.

The U.S. Army base was renamed Fort Liberty in June 2023, and President Trump campaigned on changing the name back to Fort Bragg.

In 2020, in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, Congress ordered a plan to rename any military posts and federal assets that honored Confederate leaders.

Fort Bragg was changed to Fort Liberty and was the only base that wasn’t named after a specific person.

Related: Could Fort Liberty be changed back to Fort Bragg under Trump?

“This change underscores the installation’s legacy of recognizing those who have demonstrated extraordinary service and sacrifice for the nation,” spokesman John Ullyot said in a statement.

The choice of the World War II private first class got around a law prohibiting the military from naming a base after a Confederate leader.

In a video he posted on X announcing that he was renaming the base, Hegseth said: “That's right. Bragg is back!”

In reality, the base had still been widely known as Bragg, the new name having not really taken hold. On Hegseth's first official day as defense secretary he made a point of calling it Fort Bragg in his first exchange with reporters.

The renaming also adds cost when Trump's administration is trying to find savings through it's Department of Government Efficiency. The 2022 base renaming commission estimated that renaming Bragg, including all the signage, paint jobs on police and emergency responder vehicles and other items, would cost at least $6.3 million.

In 2023, the base said the total costs were going to be around $8 million.