Pentagon renames South Carolina military base after Sen. Lindsey Graham
The Pentagon has renamed a military base in South Carolina after former U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who represented the state in Congress for more than two decades before his death last month.
Joint Base Charleston was renamed Joint Base Lindsey Graham during a ceremony on Monday. Graham was a U.S. Air Force veteran and served in the South Carolina Air National Guard. The installation is home to dozens of commands across military branches.
The ceremony featured U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and U.S. Sen. Darline Graham Nordone, the younger sister of Graham who was appointed to serve the remainder of his term after he died.
"Sen. Lindsey Graham dedicated his life to serving this state and serving the armed forces of the United States," said Hegseth in a statement. "He served this nation both in uniform and in both houses of Congress.
"But in both capacities, it was always the same mission. He knew the timeless truth that to ensure peace, we must be prepared for war. Protect your people, protect your state, protect your sovereignty, or you will lose it to someone else who is willing to take it from you."
During his remarks, Hegseth recounted first meeting Graham when Hegseth was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army, having just returned from Iraq and joining the group Vets for Freedom.
"[We] believed in the surge in Iraq and advocating for the troops on the ground," he said. "We were a young, scrappy veterans' organization with no money and no access and connections."
According to Hegseth, Graham was the only senator who had been willing to meet with his group at the time, noting that Graham "welcomed us into his conference room, sat us down as a bunch of lieutenants and [noncommissioned officers] and others around the table — fresh back from Iraq — who wanted the right strategy."
"He said, 'Gentlemen, welcome to a place where you can still say the word victory,'" Hegseth recalled. "He believed in mission success; he believed in the troops; he believed in giving the troops everything they needed."
In July, the 71-year-old Graham died suddenly of a tear in his aorta caused by hardening of his arteries. The medical emergency occurred after he traveled back to the U.S. from Ukraine.
A former GOP presidential candidate in 2016, Graham had been a prominent Republican presence in the Senate since he took office in January 2003. He was known for championing conservative causes, including pro-life policies, and for what many called a hawkish foreign policy.
Graham had initially been a staunch critic of President Donald Trump, especially during the 2016 GOP primary season. However, he later worked with Trump on various policy issues.
At Graham's funeral, held July 28 at the Washington National Cathedral, Trump paid tribute to the late senator, calling him "a giant of the United States Senate," "tough cookie" and "a true American original who left us much too soon."
