GUEST COLUMNIST

Our South Carolina troops were in need. Their South Carolina Families were in need. And the people and businesses of our state came to their aid.

As you read this, I hope you are sitting at home surrounded by your loving family. Or at your place of business, working hard to support your family and looking forward to the joy of returning home to them. And you know, at the end of the day, you will be able to come home to that caring family of yours.

That is something we too easily, and too often, take for granted.

Right now there are 1,600 South Carolinians who wish they too could easily see their loved ones at the end of the day. However, they do not have that luxury we enjoy. These fellow citizens of ours are some of the hardworking and devoted members of our South Carolina National Guard.

The S.C. Guard 218th Brigade Combat Team is currently in Camp Shelby, Mississippi, training to go to Afghanistan and fight to protect our freedom. They deploy on their mission in late April and will fly from Mississippi to Afghanistan.

Before they leave to go help fight the global war on terror, our troops have been granted a 10-day leave to go home and visit their families.

There is only one problem; many of them have no way to make it home.

Since this leave is seen as a vacation, the National Guard will not foot the bill to send our soldiers home to South Carolina.

Many of us serving you at the State House were shocked by this news. We decided there had to be something our state could do that would help bring our troops and their families together.

The day this news broke, we began to talk with business leaders around our state to see what we could do. We asked our business community to step up for our S.C. Guard and pledge their support by donating money to the Defenders of Freedom Fund.

We set up the Defenders of Freedom Fund to aid our S.C. Guardsmen and women. This fund will help provide round-trip bus transportation from Mississippi to South Carolina for any soldier from the 218th wishing to return home during leave.

Last week many of us, representatives and business leaders from around the state, held a press conference and made a promise to our troops that we would raise the funds needed to get them home to see their families. We knew this would involve raising a considerable amount of money, but we knew the importance of this task.

We challenged our business community to step up and lead the way. And they did by quickly securing donations that brought us closer to making our goal a reality.

After the outpouring of support from our state's businesses and the realization we would keep our word to give any soldier willing a ride home, hundreds more Guardsmen expressed interest in coming home during their leave. The cost went up considerably, from $88,000 to $120,000, but still our state's business leaders and individuals made sure the funds were there.

Even after the cost of this endeavor went up considerably, in only six days our business community made sure we met and surpassed this new goal needed to bring our troops and their families together.

Our state's businesses, large and small, have been very generous and eager to assist our troops. But I would like to give special recognition to some of the individuals and organizations that went above and beyond any expectations we had. The Mungo Family, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Lone Star and AT&T were extremely generous and were a major factor in making this possible.

Our state should be proud of our business community and the leaders who stepped up to make this effort possible.We could not have done this in such a short amount of time without their support.

Time spent away from our families is difficult. This is a sacrifice our men and women in service, and their families, know all too well.

I thank all the business leaders and citizens for their help, and I know the families of our S.C. Guard thank you as well.