87 finalists, 9 Army bases: One of these options could be Fort Benning’s new name
A congressional commission on Thursday released a list of 87 possible new names for the nine Army installations named after Confederate generals. The proposal includes several new names with ties to Fort Benning.
It’s unclear which of the names is being considered for Fort Benning. Other installations that must be renamed include Fort Hood in Texas; Fort Bragg in North Carolina; Fort Rucker in Alabama; Fort Polk in Louisiana; Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia; and Forts A.P. Hill, Lee and Pickett in Virginia.
It’s possible a new installation name from outside the commission’s list of 87 is chosen. Several of the names on the final list have ties to Fort Benning.
Alwyn Cashe
Cashe, a Fort Benning soldier, is the first Black service member to receive the Medal of Honor for fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq. Cashe was awarded the medal for rescuing six comrades and an interpreter from a burning vehicle after a roadside bomb ruptured the fuel cell of the vehicle he was riding in during a patrol near Samarra, Iraq.
He suffered second and third-degree burns over 72% of his body and died from his injuries almost a month later.
He was awarded the Medal of Honor in December 2021, more than 16 years after his death. Lt. Gen. Gary Brito, a former Fort Benning commander and Cashe’s battalion commander, pushed for the honor. Cashe’s widow, Tamara, lives in Columbus.
“Have you ever won the lottery? That’s what it feels like,” Cashe’s sister, Kasinal Cashe White, told the Ledger-Enquirer about her brother receiving the Medal of Honor. “I’ve been waiting on this so long.”
George Marshall
Marshall, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient and American statesman, led the Army’s infantry school in the post-World War I era. Marshall served as Secretary of State and later Secretary of Defense under President Harry Truman.
Hal & Julia Moore
Hal and Julie Moore lived in Auburn and are buried at Fort Benning. Lt. Gen. Moore’s three-decade military career is highlighted by his heroism as commander at the Battle of Ia Drang during the Vietnam War.
The battle was depicted in Hal and late war correspondent and journalist Joe Galloway’s 1992 best-seller “We Were Soldiers Once… and Young.”
In an interview with the Ledger-Enquirer in 2021, the couple’s son, Dave Moore, said it was Julie who held the family together and brought the decorated lieutenant general to the point of greatness. The name is meant to honor the contributions of the military family.
“(Mom and Dad) represent what was best of the Army family (and) the Army spouse,” he said. “Let’s take this opportunity and make this something bigger than just naming it after an individual, but rallying around a cause that can be bigger than Fort Benning and that’s essential to the Army’s mission success.”
Colin Powell
Powell, the nation’s first Black secretary of state, served under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. Powell trained and lived at Fort Benning and in the Columbus area during several points in his military career.
After graduating from the City College of New York and receiving a commission as an Army second lieutenant in 1958, Powell went through basic training at Fort Benning.
Powell already has a roadway named after him in the Columbus area — Colin Powell Parkway in Phenix City. Powell also attended the grand opening of the National Infantry Museum in 2009.
Powell died in 2021 at the age of 84 from COVID-19 complications.
Col. Ralph Puckett Jr.
Puckett, a retired Army Col. and Columbus resident, was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2021 for his heroism during the Korean War.
Puckett, the company commander of the then newly-conceived Eighth U.S. Army Ranger Company, was badly wounded during a critical battle at Hill 205 on Nov. 25 and 26, 1950 where Chinese soldiers surrounded Puckett’s company. The Chinese launched human wave attacks at Puckett’s position for more than four hours.
Puckett remains a key figure for Benning’s Army Rangers.
Other names with some Fort Benning ties
Gen. Omar Bradley: Bradley was the first-ever Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the last of only five Army officers to be promoted to the rank of five-star general. Post World War I, he served as a tactics instructor at the Infantry School at Fort Benning. In 1941, he returned to Fort Benning as the Commandant of the Infantry School.
Charles Chibitty: Chibitty, a Native American, was assigned to Fort Benning’s 4th Infantry Division. He and 16 other Comanche soldiers from Oklahoma developed a coded language German soldiers could not decipher during World War II. They created a military dictionary of 100 Comanche words. The men developed the code at Fort Benning, according to a 2005 Washington Post article.
U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower was stationed at Fort Benning as a major in the 24th Infantry Regiment in 1926-27.
Fort Benning’s night infiltration course is named for Rodger Young, an Ohio soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously after being killed by Japanese soldiers in World War 11.
What’s next?
The commission will meet with military and community leaders in virtual listening sessions in the coming weeks before deliberating on final name recommendations. These are the same groups the commission spoke with last year. Columbus’ local group included Mayor Skip Henderson and State Rep. Calvin Smyre, among others.
The Naming Commission is required to provide recommendations to the House Armed Services Committee and Senate Armed Services Committee by Oct. 1 for renaming military bases and other assets that commemorate the Confederacy.
The list was narrowed from more than 34,000 submissions for renaming the commission received last year, which included 3,670 unique names.
“It’s important that the names we recommend for these installations appropriately reflect the courage, values and sacrifices of our diverse military men and women,” retired Navy Adm. Michelle Howard, the chair of the Naming Commission, said in a statement. “We also are considering the local and regional significance of names and their potential to inspire and motivate our service members.”
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 2:30 PM.