A U.S. Army post formerly named after the leader of the Confederate army during the Civil War is now named in honor of Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams, two Black U.S. Army trailblazers.
The Virginia post, which has been known as Fort Lee, is now renamed Fort Gregg-Adams, ABC News reported.
Gregg served in the Army for 35 years beginning in 1946. He was the first Black quartermaster officer to rise to the rank of brigadier general. The trailblazer also became the first Black officer in the Army to reach a three-star rank when he was promoted to lieutenant general.
“I hope that 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 said during a redesignation ceremony on Thursday.
Adams took a break from her pursuit of a master’s degree in psychology to serve in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps during World War I. At age 25, Adams lead the only predominantly Black women unit in the European Theater of Operations, delivering mail to and from soldiers fighting in Europe.
Gregg raved about Adams’ legacy.
“Her performance in getting the mail delivered in a very chaotic environment has made the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion a legend that gets bigger every day,” he said.
Maj. Gen. Mark Simerly, commanding general of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command and senior commander of Fort Lee, said the two trailblazers “led with dignity.”
“They looked the part, they maintained their composure and they led by example,” Simerly said according to ABC News. “In short, these two epitomize the professional qualities we seek in every leader who wears the uniform of the United States Army.”
Gregg, who enlisted when the military was still segregated, is the only living soldier in modern history to have an installation named in his honor, NPR reported.
Adams worked as a high school math teacher while pursuing a master’s degree in psychology at the Ohio State University. The South Carolina native stood up against racism and sexism when she served with the 6888th Central Postal Directory in England.
In her memoir, Adams said a general came to inspect her battalion and threatened to “send a white first lieutenant down here to show you how to run this unit.”
”Over my dead body, sir,” Adams said she told the general.
According to Simerly, Adams “repeatedly took a stand against the notion of separate but equal facilities for Black and white soldiers.”
Adams served in Europe until 1945, then briefly worked at the Pentagon until she was discharged the following year. The veteran returned to college to complete her master’s in vocational psychology.
Adams died in 2002.
