ATLANTA – Fort Benning in Columbus could switch back to Fort Moore under legislation passed by the Republican-led House of Representatives, a move that would reverse a highly publicized Trump administration decision.
Tucked inside a sweeping defense spending bill that won approval this month, the measure would require the Georgia base to once again honor Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and his wife, Julia Moore.
Hal Moore was a highly decorated soldier who fought in the Korean and Vietnam wars and co-authored the bestselling book, “We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young.” He is buried at Fort Benning alongside Julia, who was known for her unwavering support of military families.
One of their sons, Stephen Moore, said the name change would present “an example for warriors.”
“Be a warrior like my father or lead a warrior family like my mother, given both of their lifelong contributions to the Army and the nation,” said Stephen Moore, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who lives in the Wilmington, North Carolina, area. “You could have a place with values and an example.”
The Pentagon said Wednesday it would not comment on pending legislation.
Fort Benning was originally named after Henry Benning, who served as a general in the Confederate army. He was an ardent secessionist before the war, once warning that if slavery were abolished there would be “black governors, black legislatures, black juries, black everything.”
During the Biden administration, Benning was among nine bases renamed to no longer honor Confederate figures. The post became Fort Moore in 2023.
This year, the Trump administration switched the post’s name back to Benning. The Pentagon said the change honors Cpl. Fred Benning of Norfolk, Nebraska, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism during World War I.
In April, the military estimated it would cost the post about $653,000 for the name change, including for signage, ID badges and police uniforms. The switch from Benning to Moore in 2023 cost the installation about $830,000 and included removing the names of other Confederate figures.
The Defense Department said its decision for restoring the Benning name “underscores the installation’s storied history of service to the United States of America, 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.”
Critics blasted the move as divisive. During a congressional committee hearing in July, U.S. Rep. Marilyn Strickland, D-Wash., called the Trump administration’s decision to rename military bases a “ploy” that involved “finding new service members who shared the last names of these Confederate traitors.”
U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, supports restoring the Fort Moore name.
“Fort Moore was the perfect name. It’s the opportunity to represent the warrior at home and the warrior on the battlefield. Hal and Julia Moore were both stalwart patriots and they deserve recognition,” Scott said through a spokesman.
Scott is behind a second measure tucked in the same defense bill that would change the name of Fort Gordon in Augusta to Fort Shughart Gordon. That switch would recognize Randall Shughart and Gary Gordon, both elite Delta Force snipers who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for their heroism during the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993.
“Every single thing that the Army has named to honor their valor and their sacrifice is named Shughart-Gordon,” Scott said. “Their legacy and names should exist in death as they did in life – together. My amendment simply ensures that their shared heroic sacrifice is remembered forever at Fort Gordon.”
The post was originally named after John Gordon, a Confederate general and slave owner who was generally recognized as the head of the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia.
Its name was changed in 2023 in honor of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Trump administration switched it back to Fort Gordon this year in honor of Gary Gordon.
Gordon’s widow, Carmen Owens, has said her family is honored by the recognition. She plans to speak at a renaming ceremony at Fort Gordon Friday, when the post will unveil a new “Master Sgt. Gary Gordon Boulevard” sign.
The marker is part of a major overhaul the military began at the Augusta post after the Trump administration announced its renaming in June. As of Sept. 12, the cost for signage and other name-related changes at the post has reached $223,828, according to the Pentagon.
In 2023, hundreds of people attended a ceremony for renaming it in honor of Eisenhower, who led allied forces on D-Day, helped liberate Western Europe and defeat Nazi Germany. The cost for that name change: $810,165.
A spokeswoman for the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home referred questions about the name change to the Eisenhower Foundation, which did not respond to requests for comment.
The language in the House legislation for renaming the two Georgia bases is not in the Senate version of the bill. Once the Senate approves its version, lawmakers from both chambers would need to iron out a compromise ahead of a revote.
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