Three retired generals who gushed over the Texan told Fox News that the renaming of Fort Hood will be a dignified monument to the Army’s first Hispanic four-star general.
According to the Pentagon, the late Gen. Richard Cavazos, a hero of the Korean and Vietnam wars who served his whole Army career, will be honored by having the Central Texas base bear his name. As a part of the Department of Defense’s initiative to remove Confederate-affiliated emblems from military property, nine Army stations across the country will receive new names.
Army Lt. Gen. Robert T. Clark, who is now retired, told Fox News, “I believe that’s a beautiful homage.” The very thought of that would make him feel incredibly humble.
Cavazos received the Distinguished Service Cross , the second-highest military decoration for valor, for frequently returning to the Korean War battlefield despite being wounded himself to save the lives of wounded soldiers. For his contributions earlier in the conflict, he had already been awarded a Silver Star.
US TROOPS LAND AT INCHON ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1950, CHANGING THE TIDE OF THE KOREAN
During the Vietnam War, he received extra recognition for his bravery, including a second Distinguished Service Cross. By the end of his career, Cavazos had additionally been awarded a Purple Heart, five Bronze Stars, and two Legions of Merit.
There might have been a few people on active duty with more decorations than he had, but I kind of doubt it, Clark said.
In both times of war and peace, Cavazos showed uncommon concern for his soldiers, according to former Army Lt. Gen. Richard Graves, who spoke with Fox News.
According to Graves, “He was genuinely concerned about the wellbeing of his soldiers.” That was his main focus.
According to Clark, who called the four-star general possibly the most “beloved” military officer he had ever met, such compassion was reciprocated.
Army Lt. Gen. Lawson Magruder, a retired general, related a personal account of Cavazos showing his renowned generosity during a training session overnight in 1977.
Magruder remarked, “I’m there in the operations center late at night, and I’ll never forget that. At two in the morning, General Cavazos and his assistant arrive. And he replied, “Lawson, I want to go meet the soldiers in the companies down on the line.” I am aware that they are putting in a lot of effort.
He added, “And he went down there, and things weren’t going all that great.” But I have to admit that he motivated the soldiers who dug in during the night to reach the deadline.
In contrast to when he might have easily destroyed us, Magruder said, “He pulled us up.” However, that wasn’t General Cavazos.
Our nation’s veterans are honored by “THE FIVE”: “NOT JUST THE BEST OF AMERICA, THEY ARE AMERICA.”
Being “A Legend in His Own Time” Cavazos, who was born in 1929, spent his childhood on a cattle ranch in Kingsville, Texas, not far from Fort Hood. When an injury terminated Cavazos’ football career while attending what is now Texas Tech University, he enlisted in the school’s ROTC program. In 1951, he received his commission in the Army.
Cavazos became the first Hispanic brigadier general in the Army a little more than two decades later. When he attained the rank of four-star general in 1982, the same year he completed a two-year command at Fort Hood, he broke yet another barrier.
Due to symptoms from Alzheimer’s illness, Cavazos passed away in 2017. Cavazos resided in the Army Residence Community in San Antonio, where Debbie Hargett is the director of resident services. She had pleasant memories of the late general.
He was “extremely adored by all the personnel here” and “proudly told stories of his childhood growing up at King Ranch with his dad, who was the ranch manager,” Hargett said to Fox News. “And” his brother, Lauro “Cavazos,” who eventually joined the U.S. Cabinet as the education secretary. Texas had a giant, but no one knew about him.
Congress created the Naming Commission in 2021 with the goal of cataloging all military allusions to the Confederacy and making renaming recommendations. Around 1,100 references were found, including Fort Hood.
The post was established in 1942 and was given the name John Bell Hood. As the American Civil War began, the West Point alumnus left the U.S. Army and, dissatisfied with Kentucky’s neutral posture, proclaimed himself a Texan.
A 99-year-old D-Day war hero passes away on Independence Day.
According to the findings of the Naming Commission, “He is one of the most rapidly promoted leaders in the Confederate Army with a reputation as an aggressive commander who was willing, ready, and often led his forces into battle.”
The Texas Brigade, which the Texas State Historical Association describes as “probably the greatest brigade of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia,” was under Hood’s leadership once he attained the rank of brigadier general.
According to the report of the Naming Commission, “While he initially gained some combat wins, several later conflicts were met with defeat and suffered enormous casualties, especially the late 1864 disastrous and crippling Battle of Franklin and Battle of Nashville.”
