Months of preparation culminated Wednesday in a dress rehearsal for the redesignation of Fort Gordon as Fort Eisenhower.
Nearly 200 VIP invitees will join active and retired Department of Defense personnel Friday to commemorate renaming the Augusta military post for the nation’s 34th president, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, said Capt. Rebecca Harr, deputy chief of public affairs for the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence.
Some in the Augusta community consider the change and its approximate $1.7 million price tag controversial. But Army and Fort Gordon circles have embraced it, she said.
“We’ve gotten nothing but positive feedback about the name change. Eisenhower was such an inspirational leader to so many. He really devoted his life to the service of this country and we are just really proud to take on his name,” she said.
The 10 a.m. ceremony Friday will include footage of Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie, spending time in Augusta, as well as his illustrious career as a five-star general and commander of the Allied Forces in the invasion of Normandy, according to a preview.
Honored guests are expected to include Master Sgt. Louis Graziano, who installed Eisenhower’s phone line to hasten an allied victory. Graziano, 100, was in the room to witness the signing of Germany’s unconditional surrender, it said.
Eisenhower’s granddaughter, Susan Eisenhower, will represent the family. Susan Eisenhower works as a policy analyst focused heavily on national security. Her latest book is “How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest Decisions.”
Many signs and names have already been replaced on post as it sheds its Confederate namesake, Gen. John Brown Gordon. The Eisenhower Catering and Conference Center just opened. Gordon Lanes is now Five Star Lanes.
“We have made it very well known that this was coming. It’s been a long process – 2022 is when the name was approved,” Harr said.
Gordon is the ninth and final Army installation to be renamed as recommended by the Naming Commission, for removal of names commemorating the Confederate States of America or anyone who served voluntarily in its military.
Military leaders including Secretary of the Army Christine E. Wormuth and Chair of the Congressional Naming Commission Ret. Navy Adm. Michelle Howard will attend the ceremony at Barton Field, hosted by U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence and Fort Gordon Commanding General Maj. Gen. Paul Stanton.
The ceremony will commemorate the post’s history since 1941 as a training site for three World War II divisions, a prisoner of war camp for German and Italian prisoners, the growth of the Signal Corps Regiment and its role since 2014 as home of the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence.
The event will be live-streamed on the Cyber Center of Excellence’s Facebook page.
