海角大神

The first exhibit inside the National Infantry Museum, in Columbus, Georgia, is a long aisle of life-size battlefield scenes from Yorktown, Omaha Beach, Desert Storm. The exhibit is a march through the Army Infantry鈥檚 history. So too are the soldiers it depicts.聽

The scene from Antietam shows Henry Benning, a Civil War Confederate general and native here in Columbus, Georgia, aiming a rifle past a short bridge.聽

Farther forward, inside the open cab of a helicopter, a projector plays black-and-white footage from the Vietnam War. In the film, Harold 鈥淗al鈥� Moore, who retired a lieutenant general and whose memoir became the movie 鈥淲e Were Soldiers,鈥� waves off a chopper.聽

It鈥檚 a fitting cast. Beside the museum is one of the country鈥檚 largest Army bases, which trains America鈥檚 infantry. Up until this May, its name was Fort Benning. Now it鈥檚 Fort Moore, having been renamed for Hal and his wife, Julia 鈥� one of nine posts once named for Confederate soldiers being re-designated this year.聽

That change was required in the defense bill passed by Congress in 2020, the kind of Washington mandate that could have easily rent a Deep South town and its beloved Army base over the politics of memory. Instead, Fort Benning became Fort Moore with no protest and few complaints.聽

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anybody who looks at it logically and fairly will ever say it was imposed on us,鈥� says Pastor Jimmy Elder of Columbus鈥� First Baptist Church, who participated in the renaming process.

Since May, the fort鈥檚 brass has repeated how the new name better matches Army values. Perhaps just as important but less trumpeted is how the fort was renamed 鈥� guided by Washington but carried out by locals. Months after the renaming ceremony took place, the fort and the city have come to take pride in that process almost as much as the new name itself.

A city鈥檚 connection to its base

This is not the first time Columbus led the naming of its military base 鈥� nor even the first time Mr. Elder鈥檚 church was involved.

In the early 1900s, its former head pastor helped found the local Rotary Club, which in 1918 campaigned to locate a new Army training camp nearby 鈥� and then to name it after Henry Benning.聽

It was an unusual amount of activism, even around the heyday of support for the Lost Cause myth. Five other surviving camps from World War I were named for a Confederate. But none involved such a high level of local input.聽

That in part reflected Columbus鈥� Confederate resume. It hosted one of the last land battles of the Civil War on the rapids of the Chattahoochee, the same river that made the city Richmond鈥檚 second-largest wartime port. Henry Benning, a Confederate general and former state supreme court justice, was Confederate royalty. He鈥檚 buried in the city cemetery.聽

Such Confederate ties have since loosened as Columbus has grown. It鈥檚 now the second-largest city in Georgia, hosting multiple Fortune 500 companies, including Aflac and Pratt & Whitney. Modish apartment buildings are under construction downtown. The Chattahoochee鈥檚 rapids are now used for white water rafting. In 2020, the county voted 61% for Joe Biden.

What hasn鈥檛 loosened is the city鈥檚 connection to its military base.聽

The fort now supports more than 120,000 active duty personnel, along with families, reserves, retirees, and civilian employees. It鈥檚 the largest single-site employer in the state of Georgia, responsible for some $4.5 billion in annual income for the surrounding area, says retired Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe, the fort鈥檚 former commanding general.聽

鈥淭he post is central to the economic life of the area,鈥� says Mr. Donahoe, who now works at Columbus State University.

Today, military and civilian leaders describe each other as partners. Off-duty personnel visit the restaurants downtown on weeknight evenings. Many settle in the area, and recite their connection to the post like the title on a business card.

The upshot is a town less connected to Henry Benning but more connected to Fort Benning, which meant renaming it would still face a skeptical audience, though more out of tradition than support for the Confederacy.聽

鈥淵ou鈥檙e always going to have some folks who just don鈥檛 want to turn loose of the past,鈥� says Skip Henderson, Columbus鈥� mayor.聽

Engaging with the community聽

But the decision to rename the fort had already been made, and it had been made by Congress.聽 The challenge was to find a way to engage the community in that process, rather than having them resent it.

That challenge eventually became the job of John Hargrove, the local civilian aide to the secretary of the Army.

Mr. Hargrove is slight of build with a firm handshake and an easy laugh. In Columbus and on the fort, he knows few strangers.聽

The post鈥檚 military leaders asked him to lead community engagement at the most local level. A national commission was working with each Confederate-named base, and a group of 30-40 leaders from the Columbus area were meeting periodically with each other and that Naming Commission. Mr. Hargrove鈥檚 task was to hold one-on-one conversations in the community 鈥� a chance for local input without the potential for a large town hall to get off message.

So he started a list of who to meet with, grouping them into categories 鈥� veterans, members of the Black community (Columbus鈥� population is around 45% Black), faith leaders, and the like. Then he started scheduling meetings, some as formal as a meal, some as short as a chat after a high school ballgame.聽

鈥淚 probably drank coffee for close to 18 months,鈥� says Mr. Hargrove.聽

In all, he estimates that he met with around 100 people. He didn鈥檛 take notes, or keep a record of their conversations, to let people speak freely. His job was mostly to listen, and then represent broadly what he heard.

And he noticed that in about three-fourths of his meetings, people were familiar with the Moores, then just a candidate for the post鈥檚 new name. He sensed a trend.聽

鈥淚t was a community 鈥榓ha moment,鈥欌�� says Mr. Hargrove.

鈥淲hy not Mom and Dad?鈥�

Around the time that Mr. Hargrove was being asked to find out what the community thought about Fort Benning鈥檚 new name, David Moore already had an idea.

鈥淥ur family said, well, heck, why not Mom and Dad?鈥澛�

That question would eventually spell more than a year of work for him and his siblings. They led a push to rename the base that would rival a lobbying firm were it not family run.聽

A retired Army colonel, the younger Mr. Moore now lives less than an hour away from Columbus in Auburn, Alabama. He first arrived at Fort Benning at the age of three, when his father was stationed there in 1965.聽

Later that year, Hal Moore deployed to Vietnam and led his troops through an onslaught during the battle of Ia Drang, the first major battle of the Vietnam War. His leadership earned him the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army鈥檚 second-highest honor.聽

Meanwhile, while living off base, David鈥檚 mother Julia began complaining to the Pentagon about its system to inform families of casualties: a telegram delivered by a taxi driver. She started personally joining taxi drivers to soften the news. Her complaints to the Pentagon helped lead to the protocol in place today 鈥撀爊ews delivered by an officer and a chaplain.聽

No other military installation is named after a husband and wife pair, something Mr. Moore and his siblings saw as a way to set their parents apart from the other contenders: mostly famous generals like George Marshall and Colin Powell.

After making calls and writing a short summary, Mr. Moore began serious work with his brother Steve 鈥� the 鈥渇amily archivist鈥� who has spent much of his life documenting his parents鈥� careers. They developed a website and wrote a full, 300-page proposal, which they shared with the Naming Commission and around town.

鈥淧eople say 鈥榦h there鈥檚 big money behind Fort Moore.鈥� No, there鈥檚 Steve Moore behind Fort Moore,鈥� says David.聽

Then, for four months, there was silence. The Naming Commission was tasked with issuing a recommendation in its report. But the family didn鈥檛 know when that report would publish.

Mr. Moore was working in Maryland late last year when he got a call from Mr. Hargrove, the Army community liaison, asking if he鈥檇 seen the news.聽

鈥淲e did it,鈥� Mr. Hargrove congratulated him.

鈥淚 was stunned, stunned to tears, that we were able to to pull this off,鈥� says Mr. Moore.聽

From one name to another

The morning of May 11, around 7,000 people packed into Doughboy Stadium, the fort鈥檚 horseshoe-shaped football field, for the renaming ceremony. The crowd was a cross section of the area 鈥� soldiers, local leaders, veterans, and some 50 members of the Moore family.聽

At 9:30 a.m., halfway through the ceremony, base personnel changed the final signs out from one name to the other.聽

鈥淲hen you came out of the ceremony, there was nothing that didn鈥檛 say Fort Moore,鈥� says Col. Colin Mahle, the fort鈥檚 garrison commander.聽

That change was the culmination of months of intense work on base 鈥� to plan the ceremony, then to change out almost everything that said Fort Benning. Among other items, that included all the signs on base, patches for the uniforms, the 35,000 books in the library, logos on the golf course equipment.聽

鈥淵ou wouldn鈥檛 believe how well this post had been branded for 105 years,鈥� says Mr. Mahle.

The goal was simple but extremely difficult: nothing would be named Fort Moore before the ceremony, and nothing would be named Fort Benning after it. Planners were successful, even exacting. Early morning golfers on May 11 couldn鈥檛 buy Fort Moore merchandise at the pro shop until after 9:30 a.m. The fort鈥檚 boat at a recreational facility in Florida was changed from the 鈥淪tars and Stripes of Fort Benning鈥� to just the 鈥淪tars and Stripes.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e not just honoring the Moores by the post being named Fort Moore,鈥� says Maj. Gen. Curtis Buzzard, the commanding general of the base. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a standard that comes with that.鈥� The fort expressed it in its new slogan: Be Moore.聽

For Gen. Buzzard, the connection is in part personal. He brought a copy of Hal Moore鈥檚 memoir with him to West Point as a cadet. Later, while stationed at Fort Benning, he had the war hero sign it.

The night before the ceremony, Mr. Buzzard hosted surviving members of the 7th Cavalry, Hal Moore鈥檚 regiment in Ia Drang, for a reception. They found his copy of the book and signed their names wherever they saw their pictures.聽

鈥淭hey loved Gen. Moore, and all the reasons why we renamed the post, just came to life in listening to them,鈥� he says.

Fort Benning isn鈥檛 gone from Columbus. The city is reviewing how much it will cost to change the roads and other items that still have the old name 鈥� including Fort Benning Road, which leads to the post. Some members of the community say it will always be Fort Benning to them. Even David Moore sometimes finds himself calling it Fort Benning.聽

That鈥檚 okay, says Mr. Donahoe, the former commanding general. Changing the name 鈥� both how they changed it and what they changed it to 鈥� was meant to be a start, not the end.聽

鈥淚t鈥檒l be a generation or two,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hen everybody will only know it as Fort Moore.鈥�