By LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has, for the second time, reversed the renaming of a U.S. military base, saying that Fort Moore in Georgia should revert back to being called Fort Benning.
The move reflects an ongoing effort by the Pentagon to overturn the Biden administration’s 2023 decision to remove names that honored Confederate leaders, including for nine Army bases. But the drive to revert to the former names means finding service members with the same name as the Confederate leaders.
Previously, Fort Benning was named for Brig. Gen. Henry L. Benning, a Confederate officer during the American Civil War who stridently opposed the abolition of slavery.
Now, Hegseth said, Fort Benning will be named in honor of Cpl. Fred G. Benning, a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross who served in France during World War I. According to the Pentagon, Benning was honored for heroic actions in October 1918, when he led troops through heavy fire after his platoon leader was killed by the enemy.
The renaming of bases is resulting in decisions that insult the military heroes whose names were selected in the 2023 process, including Lt. Gen. Harold Gregory Moore Jr. and his wife, Julia.
Moore is a revered military leader who earned the Distinguished Service Cross for valor and fought in the Battle of Ia Drang in the Vietnam War. And Julia Moore was key to the creation of teams that do in-person notifications of military casualties.
Hegseth last month signed an order restoring the name of a North Carolina base back to Fort Bragg, and warned that more changes were coming.
The North Carolina base had been renamed Fort Liberty in 2023. Its original namesake, Gen. Braxton Bragg, was a Confederate general from Warrenton, North Carolina, who was known for owning slaves and losing key Civil War battles, contributing to the Confederacy’s downfall.
Now, Bragg is named to honor Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, who the Army said was a World War II hero who earned a Silver Star and Purple Heart for exceptional courage during the Battle of the Bulge.
It’s not clear how much the renaming will cost, but the expense comes as the Trump administration is trying to find savings through Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
The Naming Commission in its August 2022 report estimated it would cost $4.9 million to rename Fort Benning as Fort Moore, but said there could be additional costs. It put the cost to rename Bragg at around $8 million. Updated costs were not available.
Hegseth said the original Bragg name is a legacy for troops who lived and served there and that it was a shame to change it. And he said he deliberately referred to Bragg and Fort Benning by those names as he entered the Pentagon on his first day in office.
“There’s a reason I said Bragg and Benning when I walked into the Pentagon on day one. But it’s not just Bragg and Benning,” he said. “There are a lot of other service members that have connections. And we’re going to do our best to restore it.”
The lower ranks of the new namesakes indicate the exhaustive research being done by Army and defense leaders to find service members with the same names who have also earned some type of award for their military action and bravery.
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