Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth restored the name of another military base after the Biden administration removed its Confederate ties.
Georgia’s Fort Moore’s name has been restored to Fort Benning in honor of a World War I hero rather than a Confederate officer.
“The new name pays tribute to Corporal (CPL) Fred G. Benning, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his extraordinary heroism in action during World War I with the U.S. Army in France in 1918,” the Department of Defense said.
Hegseth announced in a DOD memo that CPL Benning was “immediately deployed to Europe and served with distinction with the 16th Infantry Regiment” after completing his initial training. “The Army awarded CPL Benning the Distinguished Service Cross for his extraordinary heroism in action south of Exermont, France, on October 9, 1918. 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.”
Benning went on to become mayor of Neligh, Nebraska. Hegseth described the soldier as 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.”
“This directive 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,” he wrote.
Last month, Hegseth renamed North Carolina’s Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg. The Biden administration changed the military base’s name to Fort Liberty in 2023. “The new name pays tribute to Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a World War II hero who earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his exceptional courage during the Battle of the Bulge. This change underscores the installation’s legacy of recognizing those who have demonstrated extraordinary service and sacrifice for the nation,” a press release of the renaming read.
