Fort Cavazos signs come down as Texas Army base reverts to Fort Hood

The rebranding of Fort Cavazos in Central Texas has begun.

The words "Fort Cavazos" are being removed, letter by letter, from signage at the armored infantry base near Killeen. In place of Cavazos, the post is getting a new-old name: Fort Hood.

President Donald Trump last week ordered the Army to restore the original names of Fort Cavazos and six other installations that had been rechristened under the Biden administration to purge the names of Confederate generals.

RELATED: 'American hero': Biden awards Medal of Honor to Gen. Richard E. Cavazos

An act of Congress that took effect in 2021, shortly after Trump's first term as president, forbids naming any U.S. military facility after someone who voluntarily served the Confederacy. In keeping with that law, Fort Hood in 2023 was renamed for the late Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, a native Texan, a Medal of Honor winner and the nation's first Hispanic four-star general.

The post's original namesake was Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood.

To get around the prohibition on honoring Confederates, the Trump administration says it is renaming the post after a different Hood: a little-known World War I officer, Col. Robert B. Hood, who received a Distinguished Service Cross for heroism.

On Tuesday, workers for the Army Corps of Engineers could be seen removing "Fort Cavazos" from a sign at the Bernie Beck gate on T.J. Mills Boulevard. They were scheduled to do the same to a sign at the Santa Fe Gate between T.J. Mills Boulevard and Clear Creek Road.

Also targeted for removal Tuesday was a "Welcome to Fort Cavazos" sign on Sadowski Field, near the headquarters of the 3d Armored Corps.

The post has six entry gates in all. As to when the remaining signage would be changed, "we don't know the times for sure," said Monty Campbell, a spokesman for the base.

As "Fort Cavazos" is erased, “we'll repaint and install the Fort Hood lettering on these signs," Campbell said. The revised signs will be covered until a renaming ceremony is held or the post receives direction from the Army "to unveil those signs," he said.

The relabeling extended to the base's digital presence. On Tuesday, the web page for its public information office bore the heading "U.S. Army Fort Hood Media Center."

RELATED: 'Repugnant': Fort Cavazos to become Fort Hood again by order of Trump

Cavazos’ daughter, Laura Blevins, expressed bitter disappointment at the erasure of her father's name.

“They are the most vindictive, hateful and soulless group of people I have ever seen," Blevins, 69, who lives in the Houston area, said of the Trump administration on Facebook. "My father never wanted any recognition and we, his family, were hesitant about the renaming of Fort Hood. But after thinking about it, who would be better than my father. He was a son of Texas, born on the King Ranch, Hispanic, a four-star general and a Medal of Honor winner who loved his country and his men."

Richard Cavazos was known as a master tactician, an innovator and a soldier’s soldier. He received the Medal of Honor for his role in a June 14, 1953, battle in the closing days of the Korean War, when he served as the commander of an infantry company. He led his men, mostly Puerto Ricans who spoke only Spanish, in a raid near Sagimak, Korea.

Cavazos' Spanish fluency bolstered the unit "after a series of commanders who spoke no Spanish, which resulted in confusion and chaos during battles," according to an account published by the National Museum of the U.S. Army.

Cavazos received the Distinguished Service Cross for his role in the battle.

"Lieutenant Cavazos three times led the company through the heavy barrage in assaults on the enemy position, each time destroying vital enemy equipment and personnel," the commendation stated.

"Exposed to heavy hostile fire, Lieutenant Cavazos located five men who had been wounded in the action. He evacuated them, one at a time, to a point on the reverse slope of the hill from which they could be removed to the safety of the friendly lines."

He accepted medical attention for his wounds only after his soldiers had been rescued.

Cavazos died at age 88 in San Antonio on Oct. 29, 2017. Shortly before leaving office in January, President Joe Biden posthumously awarded him the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony.

The honor prompted fond recollections from men who served under Cavazos, including Mel "Brave" Brav, then 82, of San Diego, Calif., a Vietnam veteran.

"He once told me he would rather use $100,000 worth of artillery and ordinance than have any of his men hurt or killed,” Brav said. “The men he led knew that about him, which encouraged them to prevail."

Among other bases that are being renamed under Trump's orders, Fort Barfoot in Virginia will revert to Fort Pickett in honor of 1st Lt. Vernon W. Pickett, who received the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism during World War II. Its original namesake was Confederate Gen. George Pickett, known for Pickett's Charge, a disastrous frontal assault on Union troops during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.

Fort Eisenhower in Georgia will go back to being Fort Gordon, this time in honor of Master Sgt. Gary I. Gordon, who fought in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia and was awarded the Medal of Honor. The fort was originally named for Confederate Gen. John Brown Gordon.

Fort Gregg-Adams in Virginia will again be Fort Lee, after Pvt. Fitz Lee, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Spanish-American War. It was originally named after Gen. Robert E. Lee, commander of Confederate forces during the Civil War.

Fort Johnson in Louisiana, originally named Fort Polk after Confederate Gen. Leonidas Polk, will revert to that name, but this time in honor of Gen. James H. Polk, who won the Silver Star for his gallantry as a cavalry commander in Europe during World War II.

Fort Novosel in Alabama will be renamed Fort Rucker after Capt. Edward W. Rucker, who won the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism in World War I. It was originally named for Confederate Col. Edmund Rucker.

Fort Walker in Virginia will revert to Fort A.P. Hill, a combination of the names of three Medal of Honor recipients: Lt. Col. Edward Hill, 1st Sgt. Robert A. Pinn and Pvt. Bruce Anderson, all of whom served in the Union Army during the Civil War. The fort's original namesake was Confederate Gen. Ambrose Powell Hill.