Fort Hood’s renaming will function a fitting tribute to the Army’s first Hispanic four-star general, three retired generals honoring the Texan told Fox News.
The Central Texas post will likely be named after the late Gen. Richard Cavazos, a hero of the Korean and Vietnam wars who demonstrated “valor and leadership” through his Army profession, in accordance with the Pentagon. It’s one in every of nine Army posts nationwide that will likely be renamed as a part of the Department of Defense’s effort to remove Confederate-affiliated symbols from military property.
“I feel that’s an exquisite tribute,” retired Army Lt. Gen. Robert T. Clark told Fox News. “He can be very humbled on the very idea of that.”
Cavazos was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross — the second-highest military honor for valor — after repeatedly returning to the battlefield in the course of the Korean War to rescue injured men despite being wounded himself. He’d already received a Silver Star for his actions earlier within the war.
His valor earned him additional honors during the Vietnam War, including a second Distinguished Service Cross. By the top of his profession, Cavazos had also received two Legions of Merit, five Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart.
“There could have been some few who were more highly decorated than he was on lively duty, but I form of doubt it,” Clark said.
Cavazos also demonstrated extraordinary look after his men in each war and peacetime, retired Army Lt. Gen. Richard Graves told Fox News.
“He was very concerned concerning the welfare of his soldiers,” Graves said. “That was his biggest thing.”
That compassion was reciprocated, in accordance with Clark, who described the four-star general as perhaps probably the most “beloved” military leader he had ever met.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Lawson Magruder shared an anecdote by which Cavazos exhibited his signature benevolence during an overnight exercise in 1977.
“I’m there within the operations center late at night, and I’ll always remember it,” Magruder said. “Two o’clock within the morning, here comes Gen. Cavazos along with his aide. And he said, ‘Lawson, I need to go visit the businesses down on the road to see the soldiers. I do know they’re working hard and digging in.’”
“And he went down there, and things weren’t going all that well,” he continued. “But I actually have to let you know that he inspired the soldiers who were in the course of the night digging in to satisfy the timeline.”
“He lifted us up in a time period when he could have just crushed us,” Magruder told Fox News. “But that wasn’t Gen. Cavazos.”
‘A legend in his own time’
Cavazos, born in 1929, grew up on a cattle ranch in Kingsville, Texas, lower than 300 miles from Fort Hood. He earned a football scholarship at what’s now Texas Tech University, but when an injury ended his profession, Cavazos enrolled in the varsity’s ROTC program. He was commissioned into the Army in 1951.
Just over twenty years later, Cavazos became the Army’s first Hispanic brigadier general. He broke one other barrier when he became a four-star general in 1982 — the identical 12 months he wrapped up a two-year stint commanding Fort Hood.
Cavazos died in 2017 resulting from complications from Alzheimer’s disease. Debbie Hargett, who serves as director of resident services at San Antonio’s Army Residence Community where Cavazos lived, remembers the late general fondly.
“He was absolutely adored by all of the staff here and proudly told stories about his life growing up at King Ranch along with his dad, who was the ranch foreman, [and] his brother, Lauro [Cavazos], who later became a part of the US cabinet because the education secretary,” Hargett told Fox News. “Texas had a large that they were very unaware of.”
In 2021, Congress established the Naming Commission to take stock of all military references to the Confederacy and offer renaming suggestions. It identified some 1,100 references, including Fort Hood.
The post, opened in 1942, was named after John Bell Hood. The West Point alumnus resigned from the US Army because the Civil War broke out and, unhappy along with his home state of Kentucky’s neutral stance, declared himself a Texan.
“He’s some of the rapidly promoted leaders within the Confederate Army with a repute as an aggressive commander who was willing, eager, and infrequently led his troops into battle,” the Naming Commission’s report states.
Hood eventually became brigadier general and was given command of the Texas Brigade, which the Texas State Historical Association calls “perhaps the best brigade of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.”
“While he initially achieved some battlefield victories, several later battles were met with defeat and suffered significant casualties, specifically the late 1864 devastating and crippling Battle of Franklin and Battle of Nashville,” the Naming Commission’s report states.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Oct. 6 that he had approved Fort Hood to be renamed Fort Cavazos. The brand new name should be finalized by Jan. 1, 2024.
“I used to be not supportive of fixing the names,” Graves told Fox News. “But in the event that they were gonna change it, they got the precise person.”
“He was just an exquisite man, an excellent warrior,” he said. “He was a legend in his own time.”
Fort Hood’s renaming will function a fitting tribute to the Army’s first Hispanic four-star general, three retired generals honoring the Texan told Fox News.
The Central Texas post will likely be named after the late Gen. Richard Cavazos, a hero of the Korean and Vietnam wars who demonstrated “valor and leadership” through his Army profession, in accordance with the Pentagon. It’s one in every of nine Army posts nationwide that will likely be renamed as a part of the Department of Defense’s effort to remove Confederate-affiliated symbols from military property.
“I feel that’s an exquisite tribute,” retired Army Lt. Gen. Robert T. Clark told Fox News. “He can be very humbled on the very idea of that.”
Cavazos was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross — the second-highest military honor for valor — after repeatedly returning to the battlefield in the course of the Korean War to rescue injured men despite being wounded himself. He’d already received a Silver Star for his actions earlier within the war.
His valor earned him additional honors during the Vietnam War, including a second Distinguished Service Cross. By the top of his profession, Cavazos had also received two Legions of Merit, five Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart.
“There could have been some few who were more highly decorated than he was on lively duty, but I form of doubt it,” Clark said.
Cavazos also demonstrated extraordinary look after his men in each war and peacetime, retired Army Lt. Gen. Richard Graves told Fox News.
“He was very concerned concerning the welfare of his soldiers,” Graves said. “That was his biggest thing.”
That compassion was reciprocated, in accordance with Clark, who described the four-star general as perhaps probably the most “beloved” military leader he had ever met.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Lawson Magruder shared an anecdote by which Cavazos exhibited his signature benevolence during an overnight exercise in 1977.
“I’m there within the operations center late at night, and I’ll always remember it,” Magruder said. “Two o’clock within the morning, here comes Gen. Cavazos along with his aide. And he said, ‘Lawson, I need to go visit the businesses down on the road to see the soldiers. I do know they’re working hard and digging in.’”
“And he went down there, and things weren’t going all that well,” he continued. “But I actually have to let you know that he inspired the soldiers who were in the course of the night digging in to satisfy the timeline.”
“He lifted us up in a time period when he could have just crushed us,” Magruder told Fox News. “But that wasn’t Gen. Cavazos.”
‘A legend in his own time’
Cavazos, born in 1929, grew up on a cattle ranch in Kingsville, Texas, lower than 300 miles from Fort Hood. He earned a football scholarship at what’s now Texas Tech University, but when an injury ended his profession, Cavazos enrolled in the varsity’s ROTC program. He was commissioned into the Army in 1951.
Just over twenty years later, Cavazos became the Army’s first Hispanic brigadier general. He broke one other barrier when he became a four-star general in 1982 — the identical 12 months he wrapped up a two-year stint commanding Fort Hood.
Cavazos died in 2017 resulting from complications from Alzheimer’s disease. Debbie Hargett, who serves as director of resident services at San Antonio’s Army Residence Community where Cavazos lived, remembers the late general fondly.
“He was absolutely adored by all of the staff here and proudly told stories about his life growing up at King Ranch along with his dad, who was the ranch foreman, [and] his brother, Lauro [Cavazos], who later became a part of the US cabinet because the education secretary,” Hargett told Fox News. “Texas had a large that they were very unaware of.”
In 2021, Congress established the Naming Commission to take stock of all military references to the Confederacy and offer renaming suggestions. It identified some 1,100 references, including Fort Hood.
The post, opened in 1942, was named after John Bell Hood. The West Point alumnus resigned from the US Army because the Civil War broke out and, unhappy along with his home state of Kentucky’s neutral stance, declared himself a Texan.
“He’s some of the rapidly promoted leaders within the Confederate Army with a repute as an aggressive commander who was willing, eager, and infrequently led his troops into battle,” the Naming Commission’s report states.
Hood eventually became brigadier general and was given command of the Texas Brigade, which the Texas State Historical Association calls “perhaps the best brigade of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.”
“While he initially achieved some battlefield victories, several later battles were met with defeat and suffered significant casualties, specifically the late 1864 devastating and crippling Battle of Franklin and Battle of Nashville,” the Naming Commission’s report states.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Oct. 6 that he had approved Fort Hood to be renamed Fort Cavazos. The brand new name should be finalized by Jan. 1, 2024.
“I used to be not supportive of fixing the names,” Graves told Fox News. “But in the event that they were gonna change it, they got the precise person.”
“He was just an exquisite man, an excellent warrior,” he said. “He was a legend in his own time.”
