Habersham school named for Medal of Honor winner

CLARKESVILLE - A new school in Habersham County will be dedicated next month in memory of a Medal of Honor winner, Hilliard A. Wilbanks.

The Hilliard A. Wilbanks Middle School is named for Wilbanks, who died in 1967 when he was shot down over Vietnam.

The school is located on Demorest-Mt. Airy Highway in Demorest and the dedication and open house will be held Saturday, August 13, starting at 10:00.

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the U.S. government.

According to the Hilliard Wilbanks Foundation Web site, Wilbanks was born in Cornelia in 1933 and joined the Air Force in 1950.

The Web site says that he was killed flying a small single-engine plane as a forward air controller (FAC), flying low and slow, conducting visual reconnaissance. On the day he died though, he engaged the enemy in support of a group of South Vietnamese troops, making several low passes over enemy soldiers, firing at them out the window of his plane, with his only weapon, his M-16 rifle.

(Read more about Wilbanks, that fateful day, his life and career and the award of the Medal of Honor and the many other awards and honors he received by clicking on the link below.)