Dwight D. Eisenhower started out as a second lieutenant in the U.S. military and rose through the ranks to become supreme commander, leading allied forces on D-Day and helping liberate Western Europe and defeat Nazi Germany. He also served two terms in the White House.
Lt. Gen. Hal Moore fought valiantly in the Korean and Vietnam wars and coauthored the bestseller, “We Were Soldiers Once… and Young.” His wife, Julia, served as a tireless advocate for military families, personally comforting them when they lost loved ones.
A special military panel is recommending that Fort Gordon in Augusta be renamed Fort Eisenhower and that Fort Benning near Columbus be changed to Fort Moore. Created by federal lawmakers amid renewed calls for racial justice, the Naming Commission was told to recommend new names for Benning, Gordon and seven other U.S. military bases that honor Confederate leaders. The Pentagon is expected to act on the commission’s recommendations by 2024.
The commission, which visited the nine bases and met with military commanders and community leaders, received more than 34,000 recommendations for renaming the installations.
“This was an exhaustive process that entailed hundreds of hours of research, community engagement and internal deliberations,” said retired Navy Adm. Michelle Howard, the commissioner’s chairwoman. “This recommendation list includes American heroes whose stories deserve to be told and remembered; people who fought and sacrificed greatly on behalf of our nation.”
Fort Gordon is named after John Gordon, who commanded half of Robert E. Lee’s army. Fort Benning was named after Henry Benning, another Confederate general.
Here are the commission’s seven other recommendations:
∗ Fort Bragg, North Carolina: Rename as Fort Liberty.
∗ Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia: Rename as Fort Walker after Dr. Mary Walker, an American suffragist, Medal of Honor recipient and U.S. Army surgeon who treated wounded Civil War soldiers.
∗ Fort Hood, Texas: Rename as Fort Cavazos after Gen. Richard Cavazos, a Distinguished Service Cross recipient who fought heroically in the Korean and Vietnam wars and who became the first Hispanic Army four-star general.
∗ Fort Lee, Virginia: Rename as Fort Gregg-Adams after Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley. She led the 6888th Central Postal Battalion, the first female African American unit to serve overseas. Gregg served as the Army’s deputy chief of staff for logistics.
∗ Fort Pickett, Virginia: Rename as Fort Barfoot after Tech. Sgt. Van T. Barfoot, who received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during World War II.
∗ Fort Polk, Louisiana: Rename as Fort Johnson after Sgt. William Henry Johnson, who received the French Croix de Guerre and the Medal of Honor for his heroism in World War I.
∗ Fort Rucker, Alabama: Rename as Fort Novosel after Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael J. Novosel Sr., a Medal of Honor recipient and veteran of World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars.
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