OVIEDO, Fla. – US Rep Stephanie Murphy is pushing to have Fort Benning in Georgia renamed after fallen Army Sergeant First Class Alwyn Cashe.
Rep Murphy sent a letter to The Naming Commission, a congressional group that recommends names for Dept. of Defense items, and requested that they consider renaming Fort Benning to Fort Cashe.
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In December, Cashe was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Joe Biden.
SFC Cashe was a drill sergeant at Fort Benning for two years, before commanding the fort’s 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division as a Platoon Sergeant in Iraq.
His sister told News 6 he hoped to return to Fort Benning, after serving in Iraq.
Murphy said in her letter that the Oviedo native’s name was submitted to the commission last year after they solicited name recommendations from the general public to rename military sites named after Confederate heroes. Fort Benning is named after Brig. Gen. Henry L. Benning, who served under General Robert E. Lee.
President Joe Biden described SFC Cashe back in December by saying: “He was a hero, he was a beloved son and brother, a proud husband and a father of three children.”
SFC Cashe received the highest military award after sacrificing his life to rescue his fellow soldiers from a burning vehicle in Iraq.
In Murphy’s letter to the Naming Commission, she wrote SFC Cashe was, " beloved in life and revered in death, a hero in the purest sense of the term. I believe he would be an honorable and unifying choice, and hope you will consider recommending him in your report to Congress.”
The Naming Commission is expected to provide its final recommendations to Congress by Oct 1.