Kent State Folds of Honor Bag Auctioned for Record Price
9/14/2021 2:30:00 PM | Men's Golf
KENT, OHIO- The Kent State Men's Golf Team's Folds of Honor bag was recently auctioned off at the 4th annual Folds of Honor Golf Outing held at Barrington Golf Club, and raised $13,000.
Folds of Honor is a non-profit that helps families of soldiers who have been killed or injured in the line of duty and was founded in 2007 by Major Dan Rooney, a former F-16 pilot who served three tours in Iraq. This foundation was started to give back to spouses, children, and loved ones of soldiers killed or disabled while serving our country. Folds of Honor seeks to meet this need by providing annual educational scholarships to the military families of those who have been killed or disabled while on active duty.
This past season, the Flashes honored Kent, Ohio native U.S. Army Specialist Adam S. Hamilton by carrying a Folds of Honor bag with Adam's name sewn into the side.
"It was quite the honor to have Kent State carry Adam's bag last year," Scott Hamilton, Adam's father said. "It was great to have Jon (Mills) and Herb (Page) reach out and honor Adam and help tell his story."
The Theodore Roosevelt High School grad joined the U.S. Army in 2009 and graduated basic and advanced training. He was proud to be a Cav Scout of the 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st Brigade Combat Team in the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kan. Hamilton was deployed to Afghanistan in Feb. 2011.
On May 28, 2011, Hamilton died from injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device (IED) during a night mission in Haji Ruf Afghanistan at the age of 22. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal.
Hamilton is survived by his parents Scott and Connie Hamilton and Nancy Krestan, brothers Brandon Hamilton and Nick Krestan, and sisters Shawney and Taya Hamilton. The Fa
mily started the Adam S. Hamilton Foundation in his name and awards two $10,000 college scholarships as part of their charitable work.
The Barrington Golf Club annual golf outing raises money for Folds of Honor through the event, which includes an auction. The club reached out to Scott to be their guest of honor and placed Adam's bag up for bid.
"The bids kept coming in and drove the price up over ten-thousand dollars," Scott recalled. "It started to slow down around eleven thousand, that's when I told the story that Adam's number 13 jersey was retired by Kent Roosevelt High School."
That struck a chord with three golfers, who then teamed up on their bid, allowing the bag to go for a record-setting price of $13,000. The trio then immediately donated the bag back to the Hamilton Family for it to be auctioned off again at a future outing.
Kent State plans to honor Adam again this season, wanting a full season to honor his legacy. In the 2021-22 season, the Flashes will sport an American flag style bag with Hamilton's name sewn into the side, a second bag will be gifted to Adam's family.
