The new name honors Luke Weathers Jr., a Memphis native who served as a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force during World War II. As a Tuskegee airman, Mr. Weathers enlisted in one of the first pilot training programs that was available to African Americans.
Mr. Weathers was a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Congressional Gold Medal. The renaming has been in the works for over a year, after U.S. Rep. Steven Cohen proposed the bill to rename the hospital in March 2022.