Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth continued his efforts to revive the Confederate names of military bases, announcing on Monday that he is re-renaming Fort Moore, whose previous name honored the confederate general Henry Benning.
The base, which is in Georgia, will again be called Fort Benning.
The base’s name was changed in 2023 as part of a wider bipartisan effort to eliminate military honors bestowed on Confederate officers who rebelled against the Union during the Civil War. Mr. Hegseth views those changes as part of a “woke” culture and wants to return the bases back to their old names.
Current law does not let him do that — the military is no longer allowed to name bases after Confederate generals — so Mr. Hegseth has found other military troops with the same last names.
Last month, he announced that Fort Liberty in North Carolina would return to the name Fort Bragg, but in honor of an enlisted Army soldier named Roland L. Bragg, who fought in World War II, and not the Confederate general Braxton Bragg.
On Monday, it was Fort Moore’s turn.
“I direct the U.S. Army to change the name of Fort Moore, Georgia, to Fort Benning, Georgia, in honor of Corporal (CPL) Fred G. Benning, who served with extraordinary heroism during World War I with the United States Army, and in recognition of the installation’s storied history of service to the United States of America,” Mr. Hegseth said in a statement.
Corporal Benning, he said, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his “extraordinary heroism” on the battlefield in France in 1918, for leading his company through heavy fire to its assigned objective in support of the Meuse-Argonne offensive.
“Corp. Benning was the living 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,” Mr. Hegseth said.
But while Fort Bragg had been renamed for an ideal — liberty — Fort Moore had honored Lt. Gen. Hal Moore of the Army, a Vietnam War hero, and his wife, Julie Compton Moore.
Ms. Moore had held the family together through two dozen moves and prompted the Army to set up survivor support networks. Because of her work, the Defense Department started requiring that teams consisting of uniformed officers notify families of military deaths, a system that is still in use today.
General Moore was the lieutenant colonel in command of the First Battalion, Seventh Cavalry Regiment, at the battle of Ia Drang in 1965, during the Vietnam War. He has a Distinguished Service Cross, a Purple Heart (which he never wore because he said his wound was too minor) and four Bronze Stars, including two with V devices, for acts of valor in combat.
He recounted the battle of Ia Drang in the 1992 best seller “We Were Soldiers Once … and Young,” which was made into the movie “We Were Soldiers” in 2002, starring Mel Gibson as General Moore.
At the ceremony marking the change in 2023, Maj. Gen. Curtis Buzzard, Fort Moore’s commander, said the couple embodied “the very best of our military and the very best of our nation.”
“By honoring them, Fort Moore recognizes the sacrifices of all veterans, especially highlighting those from Vietnam,” he added. “It also reinforces the important role Army spouses and families play in the success of our military.”
The Moores are buried at the Army base.
After Mr. Hegseth hinted on his first day at the Pentagon that he wanted to change the name of Fort Moore back to Fort Benning, the couple’s son, Dave Moore, told the Stars and Stripes newspaper that his parents “still represent the values and culture and competencies” that Mr. Hegseth “is saying he wants in our force.”
He added, “I think it’s a win for the Department of Defense if they do nothing.”
In his statement, Mr. Hegseth said the Army should look for ways to honor the Moores.
