Georgia airport dedicated to Jimmy Carter

AMERICUS, Ga., Oct. 12 (UPI) -- A former military training base in Americus, Ga., has been renamed in honor of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

The Souther Field Airport was officially renamed the Jimmy Carter Regional Airport in a dedication attended by Carter Sunday.

"We sometimes forget that one of our citizens rose to that office," County Commissioner Brent Williams said.

Critics of the change said they had no difficulty with Carter, but opposed dedicating the field to anyone other than Henry Souther, who helped develop the airfield as a military base during World War I, WALB-TV, Albany, Ga., reported Monday.

Souther "and his family enjoyed this honor for more than 90 years and maybe for the next 20 or 30 or 50 years before they decide to change again, my family will enjoy the same," Carter, the 39th president of the United States, said at the dedication ceremony.