DAHLONEGA - The University of North Georgia's Department of Athletics will kick off its award-winning Operation Nighthawks of Honor initiative next week as it recognizes service members who were former or current UNG students.  On Friday afternoon in UNG's Memorial Hall, Director of Athletics Lindsay Reeves presented COL. James T. Palmer, UNG Commandant of Cadets, a check for $688.01 from last year's proceeds. 

Nighthawk Athletics has now donated over $1,800 to the UNG Boar's Head Brigade Corps of Cadets Endowed Scholarship Fund since the initiative's inception on the 14^th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
 
The third annual ceremony will be held at approximately 7:30 p.m. in between games of a Peach Belt Conference soccer doubleheader against Georgia Southwestern at the UNG Soccer Complex on Wednesday, Oct. 18.  

The event, which is the annual announcement of UNG Athletics' yearlong tribute to the nation's armed forces, will include special tribute performances by the Blue Ridge Rifles, Golden Eagle Band, the Patriot Choir and the Boar's Head Brigade Color Guard.

The ceremony will feature UNG coaches displaying commemorative memorabilia that honors the fallen soldiers and will be raffled off at the end of the 2017-18 season, with the all of the proceeds supporting the endowment fund. Along with each head coach, representatives from each company of the Corps of Cadets and its specialty units will stand in on the presentation.
 
 "Operation Nighthawks of Honor is a special yearlong initiative that recognized UNG's rich tradition of military excellence," said UNG Director of Athletics Lindsay Reeves. "Our tight community of Nighthawks greatly respects and appreciates all that armed service members, past and present, sacrifice for our country."
 
Each of the university's sports teams is assigned a UNG graduate or former student that were killed in action while serving the country; the teams commemorate their service members throughout their respective seasons. 

Similar to last year's class that were all Vietnam veterans, all 13 former North Georgia students of this year's Operation Nighthawks of Honor class were killed during, or associated with, World War I.  
 
The U.S. World War I Centennial Commission was created by an Act of Congress in 2013. The Commission's mission is to plan, develop, and execute programs, projects and activities to commemorate the Centennial of World War I (WWI).  The Commission will use the Centennial as a timely and essential opportunity to educate the country's citizens about the causes, courses and consequences of the war; and to honor the heroism and sacrifice of those Americans who served.

One of only six federally designated senior military colleges in the nation, UNG is The Military College of Georgia and its nationally recognized Army ROTC program attracts students from across the state, region and nation.