It’s official – Fort Gordon will be renamed and become Fort Eisenhower.
Last week, Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin approved a proposal to rename nine Army bases that had been named after Confederate Army soldiers. As reported in ABD in August, that includes Fort Gordon, which had been named for Confederate Army officer, John Brown Gordon.
The new name, which is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2024, honors World War II hero and 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Eisenhower’s name is already on the Army hospital in Augusta. Eisenhower was a member of Augusta National and famously had a tree named after him on the course, until it was felled by lightning a few years ago.
In an earlier interview, Rick Franza, Dean of Hull College of Business at Augusta University, said he didn’t think the name change would have much impact locally.
“I wouldn’t think it’d have an effect one way or the other,” he said. “Eisenhower was a very popular figure nationally and locally. We already have the Eisenhower Army Hospital, so there’s a significant impact of his name around here already.”
Among the others, besides Eisenhower, considered to lend their names to Fort Gordon were Alexander Augusta, a black doctor who served during the Civil War and was the first black officer buried in Arlington National Cemetery, and Charles Chibitty, a Comanche who served in the Army’s Signal Corps in World War II.
The estimated cost of switching signage and other articles bearing the Fort Gordon name to Fort Eisenhower is $580,000. The total cost for renaming all nine locations is estimated at $63 million.
The other bases that will be renamed and their new names are:
- Fort Benning, Ga., to Fort Moore
- Fort Bragg, N.C., to Fort Liberty
- Fort A.P. Hill, Va., to Fort Walker
- Fort Lee, Va., to Fort Gregg-Adams
- Fort Pickett, Va., to Fort Barfoot
- Fort Hood, Texas, to Fort Cavazos
- Fort Polk, La., to Fort Johnson
- Fort Rucker, Ala., to Fort Novosel
