“I had a family friend send me the article to my work email, saying ‘I think this might be your grandfather,’” said Williams, a school principal in Neligh, Nebraska. “And, sure enough, that is exactly how I found out.”

Williams wasn’t troubled by how and when she learned of the honor, calling it “absolutely astonishing.” She added she wasn’t aware of the controversy surrounding the renaming of the military installation. Critics are accusing the Trump administration of seeking to divide people by finding veterans who share the same last names as Confederate generals.

Last month, the Pentagon restored Fort Liberty in North Carolina back to its original name, Fort Bragg. The post was originally named after Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, a slave-owning plantation owner. The Pentagon says it is now named after the late Army Pfc. Roland Bragg, who received the Silver Star for gallantry and a Purple Heart for wounds sustained during the Battle of the Bulge.

Benning and Bragg were among nine bases that were renamed during the Biden administration so that they would no longer honor Confederate figures. The changes happened amid renewed protests for racial justice following the violent police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis in 2020.

In 2023, Fort Benning’s name was changed to Fort Moore after the late Hal and Julie Moore. Lt. Gen. Hal Moore fought in the Korean and Vietnam wars and received commendations for his courageous actions in battle, including a Distinguished Service Cross. A Red Cross volunteer who worked in Army hospitals, Julie Moore is known for generously supporting grieving military families. Both are buried at Fort Benning.

Their son, David Moore, was disappointed by the Trump administration’s decision this month. He highlighted how then-President Donald Trump praised his father during a White House event honoring a fellow soldier in 2019. At the ceremony, Trump called Hal Moore “a great general.”

“It is very contrary to what they say they want,” David Moore said, “and what we are actually seeing.”

Credit: Courtesy of Sue Williams

Credit: Courtesy of Sue Williams

Too busy to talk about war

Born in Norfolk, Nebraska in 1900, Fred Benning enlisted with the U.S. Army 17 years later, according to the Pentagon. He served with a machine-gun company in the First Infantry Division. Williams remembers visiting his home and seeing a citation for a Distinguished Service Cross he received.

Benning, according to the Pentagon, received the medal for what he did after the enemy killed his platoon commander and disabled two senior noncommissioned offers in France. Benning took command and led 20 others in his company “through heavy fire to their assigned objective in support of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive” in 1918.

“My grandmother always had by the front door his Distinguished Service Cross citation framed. Always there. Nobody ever talked about it,” Williams said. “I have put it up in my house as well. Gosh, it is just amazing. It just has a whole different meaning now.”

After the war, Benning married, raised a family and operated a bakery in Neligh, Nebraska, where he served as mayor, according to an obituary published in The Norfolk Daily News. His bakery was known for its fresh dinner rolls.

“He would be down at the bakery at 3 in the morning. And he made endless amounts of dinner rolls,” Williams said. “He would take them around or people would come and pick them up for some of the local grocery stores at that time.”

Credit: Courtesy of Sue Williams

Credit: Courtesy of Sue Williams

Williams remembers eating ice cream, going fishing and taking walks with her grandfather. For Christmas one year, he put together her swing set. His experiences in WWI, she said, did not come up in conversation.

“That was something I was told early on — do not ask,” Williams said. “It was never discussed.”

Newspaper coverage of Benning’s heroism points to possible reasons. In 1920, his Distinguished Service Cross was mailed to him after he declined to receive it with military honors, The Albion Argus in Nebraska reported that year.

“Officers attached to the recruiting office,” the article says, “commented on his request that the cross be mailed to him, stating that such modesty is typical of the spirit of soldiers who have merited such awards.”

Eight years later, The Norfolk Press in Nebraska published a front page piece with the headline: “Norfolk Boy Decorated By Army Is Too Busy Decorating Pastries in Neligh To Talk Of War Work.”

“It was all in a day’s work and he didn’t say anything about it. Indeed, he has never talked about his war experience,” the article says. “Most of the fellows who did the real fighting don’t talk about it.”

Benning died in 1974 at age 74. He is buried in his hometown Norfolk, Nebraska.

Ceremony planned for base renaming

Williams said someone from Fort Benning attempted to reach her at Neligh City Hall on March 3, the day of the Pentagon’s announcement. On Friday, Williams said, Maj. Gen. Colin Tuley called to tell her a ceremony commemorating the name change would be held at Fort Benning on April 16.

She plans to attend.

“It’s just a great honor,” Williams said. “It’s great for the town. It’s great just to have his memory still alive.”

Credit: Courtesy of Sue Williams

Credit: Courtesy of Sue Williams