Today, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum renaming Fort Moore in Georgia to Fort Benning.
Reverting to its original name, this time, it honors an enlisted World War I soldier and Distinguished Service Cross recipient instead of the Confederate general and Silver Star recipient for whom it was originally named.
As an effort to re-title bases with Confederate-era names the base was renamed Fort Moore in 2023.
It was named after Hal Moore, who served in the Army from 1945 to 1977 and commanded the Army’s 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, as well as his wife, Julia, who helped develop the military’s notification and support system for spouses of fallen service members.
The new name reportedly honors Corporal Fred G. Benning, who earned the Distinguished Service Cross for his remarkable heroism fighting with the U.S. Army in France in 1918.
The U.S. Department of Defense in a press release said, “This change underscores the installation’s storied history of service to the United States of America, honors the warfighter ethos, and recognizes the heroes who have trained at the installation for decades and will continue to train on its storied ranges.”
A memo signed by Hegseth directing the change Monday read “After the enemy killed his platoon commander and disabled two senior non-commissioned officers, CPL Benning took command of the surviving 20 men of his company, and courageously led them through heavy fire to their assigned objective in support of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.”
Adding “CPL Benning was the embodiment of the Infantryman’s Creed, as he never failed his country’s trust and fought to the objective to triumph for his unit and his country.”
This isn’t the first time a U.S. Army base has been renamed. Last month, Hegseth renamed Fort Liberty in North Carolina — previously renamed from Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty in 2023 — back to Fort Bragg.
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Source: American Military News