The Hilliard A. Wilbanks Foundation awarded the Capt. Hilliard A. Wilbanks Medal of Honor Memorial Scholarship, to a University of North Georgia ROTC Cadet who is also a graduate of Trion High School.
Cadet Shelby Carlock was awarded the second Wilbanks Memorial Scholarship for 2021-22 academic year. Because of COVID-19, the annual military awards ceremony was not open to the public but was available via livestream.

Carlock is the daughter of Greg and Lisa Carlock of Lafayette. She graduated from Trion High School where she played sports all four years and favorite subjects were AP Calculus and Physics. She also comes from a family with service in the military. Her sister and an uncle served in the Army as aviators. Her major is cybersecurity and her career goals are to commission into the Army and branch Aviation.

The permanent endowment at UNG was made possible through generous donors who shared the desire to remember and honor  Capt. Wilbanks for his heroism and sacrifice during the Vietnam War. He was killed in action while serving as a Forward Air Controller and his above and beyond the call of duty actions resulted in the sacrifice of his own life on Feb. 24, 1967.

His action saved numerous friendly lives. Our country’s highest military award for valor, the Medal of Honor, was posthumously presented to his wife at the Pentagon on Jan. 24, 1968.