Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the renaming of Fort Moore in Georgia to its original name of Fort Benning in a memo on Monday, though he changed its namesake.
The Army base was initially named after Confederate Gen. Henry L. Benning, though its new namesake is Cpl. Fred G. Benning, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroism in action during World War I.
“Secretary Hegseth’s directive honors the warrior ethos and recognizes the heroes who have trained at the installation for decades,” an Army spokesperson said in a statement. “The Secretary of the Army will take immediate action to implement this decision.”
Cpl. Benning was “a Distinguished Service Cross recipient, who heroically served in Machine-Gun Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, American Expeditionary Forces, in France during World War I,” the spokesperson added. “On October 9, 1918, the enemy killed Cpl. Benning’s platoon commander and disabled two senior noncommissioned officers in action south of Exermont, France. The Army awarded Cpl. Benning the DSC for his heroic actions that day as he courageously led the remaining 20 men through heavy fire to their assigned objective in support of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.”
Fort Moore was named in honor of Lt. Gen. Hal and his wife, Julia Moore. Lt. Gen. Moore served 32 years in the Army from 1945 to 1972, while Julia Moore pushed the Pentagon to create what became casualty notification teams.
Hegseth, in his memo, directed the Army to “honor the legacy of Lieutenant Gerald Harold Moore’s storied military service and Ms. Julia Moore’s family and casualty notification advocacy in a manner that celebrates their significant contributions to the local community and the Army.”
Under the Biden administration, the military renamed nine United States military bases, which had been named after Confederate leaders. The effort cost more than $60 million, according to the Pentagon.
Fort Moore is the second of those nine bases Hegseth has changed the name of, reverting it back to its original name, though, in both instances, they found a new namesake who did not have ties to the Confederacy.
Last month, Hegseth signed an order to bring back the name Fort Bragg after it was changed to Fort Liberty in 2023.
HEGSETH RENAMES FORT LIBERTY BACK TO FORT BRAGG
Fort Bragg’s new namesake is U.S. Army paratrooper Pvt. First Class Roland L. Bragg, a World War II veteran who was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his bravery during the Battle of the Bulge. Its original namesake was Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg.
Hegseth has indicated that the other seven bases that had their names changed could have their titles reverted back to their initial names.