CELEBRATING LIBERTY at FORT LIBERTY.

(U.S. Army photo by Brian Bird, Fort Liberty Garrison Public Affairs Office) **Click on the photo to enlarge the image.**

A fireworks display marks the finale of a July Fourth ceremony at Fort Liberty, North Carolina on July 2, 2024.

Fort Liberty, formerly known as Fort Bragg, is the home of both the Army Airborne (including the 82nd Airborne Division and the XVIII Airborne Corps) and Army Special Operations Forces. Fort Bragg's name was changed in 2023, after a congressional commission recommended renaming all nine U.S. Army posts in the South honoring Confederate leaders in the Civil War.

The North Carolina base was originally named in 1918 for Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general from Warrenton, North Carolina, who was known for owning slaves and losing key Civil War battles that contributed to the Confederacy's downfall, the Associated Press noted.

While the other eight bases were renamed after notable people in Army history, Fort Liberty will be the only facility named after a value, CNN noted in 2023.

"Liberty is about changing the narrative a bit about who we are, but it is not about forgetting who we are or what we've done," Fort Liberty Garrison Commander Col. John Wilcox said in a statement to CNN. "It is about dedicating time and effort to honor those who have made sacrifices along the way."

The sculpture in the photo's foreground is a 13-foot statue called "Iron Mike," a plaque at the base of the statue states "In honor of the Airborne Trooper whose courage, dedication, and traditions make him the world's finest fighting man." The figure's stance is that of a World War II paratrooper after completing a combat jump.