FORT BENNING — The Army officially restored the name Fort Benning to its storied training post in Georgia, only this time to honor an 18-year-old corporal who fought in World War I rather than a Confederate general.
A ceremony to make the name change official was held Wednesday at the base just outside Columbus. Roughly 70,000 soldiers, civilian workers and military family members are stationed at Fort Benning, which trains infantry troops and tank crews and is home to the elite Army Ranger School.
It’s the second time in less than two years that Fort Benning commanders have been tasked with swapping out the post’s name on everything from signs marking gates, streets, police cars and buildings to official stationery and websites. That will cost around $653,000, according to Fort Benning officials.
The last name change in 2023 redesignated the post as Fort Moore as part of a move started by Congress in 2020 and completed during President Joe Biden’s administration to remove names that honored Confederate leaders, including from nine Army posts.
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The name of Henry L. Benning, a former Georgia Supreme Court justice who vocally supported secession and served as a Confederate brigadier general in the Civil War, had adorned the base since it opened as Camp Benning in 1918.
Federal law now prohibits naming military bases for Confederates. The Pentagon under President Donald Trump has found a workaround for reverting bases back to what they were formerly called, by finding new soldiers to honor with the same last name.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last month ordered the change back to Fort Benning to honor Fred Benning, who was awarded the nation’s second-highest honor for battlefield bravery as an 18-year-old corporal in 1918 and later was promoted to sergeant — a fact uncovered after Hegseth issued the memo.
Sue Conger-Williams, Benning’s granddaughter, recalled summers in Nebraska fishing with her grandfather and digging for earthworms while he watched for cars, but said she never learned much about his time in the Army.
“I am grateful for this glimpse into history, and I see some similarities, though, between Fred Benning the soldier and Fred Benning my grandpa,” Conger-Williams said. “These are integrity, hard work and a commitment to service.”
Fred Benning received his Distinguished Service Cross after returning home to Nebraska, where he started a bakery and served as mayor of the small town of Neligh. He died in 1974.
Conger-Williams sat up front at the ceremony with Benning’s great-granddaughter and 10-month-old great-great-granddaughter as soldiers, veterans and locals milled around behind them.
Maj. Gen. Colin Tuley, the fort’s commanding general, said people at Fort Benning knew little about Fred Benning, which sent historians poring over old records to piece together his legacy. During Wednesday’s ceremony, Tuley noted that Benning took charge of his machine-gun platoon in October 1918 in France, leading 20 survivors through heavy fire, after their commander was killed.
“What sets him apart was his unwavering dedication to his soldiers, his understanding of the soldiers’ needs,” said Tuley.
During its short time as Fort Moore, the Georgia post became the first in the Army named for a couple: the late Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and his wife, Julia Moore.
Hal Moore served in Vietnam as commander of a cavalry battalion based at Fort Benning and was also a Distinguished Service Cross recipient. Julia Moore successfully lobbied the Pentagon to adopt a policy that military families would be notified of war casualties in person rather than by telegram.
“Whatever a name may be on an installation board, the Moores are an interwoven part of this installation and that will never go away,” said Tuley.
In his March 3 memo ordering the return to the name Fort Benning, Hegseth directed the Army to find a new way to honor the Moores “in a manner that celebrates their significant contributions to the local community and the Army.”
The Army hasn’t said how much the switch back to Fort Benning will cost. An Army commission in 2022 estimated the change to Fort Moore would cost at least $4.9 million.
Fort Benning is the second U.S. military base to have its 2023 name change reversed. The nation’s largest Army installation was rechristened Fort Bragg in North Carolina last month, following a brief two years as Fort Liberty.
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