Fred J. Grooms' service

2025-2026 Bill 5290: Fred J. Grooms' service - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 5290
STATUS INFORMATION
House Resolution
Sponsors: Reps. J.L. Johnson, Alexander, Anderson, Atkinson, Bailey, Ballentine, Bamberg, Bannister, Bauer, Beach, Bernstein, Bowers, Bradley, Brewer, Brittain, Burns, Bustos, Calhoon, Caskey, Chapman, Chumley, Clyburn, Cobb-Hunter, Collins, Cox, Crawford, Cromer, Davis, Dillard, Duncan, Edgerton, Erickson, Ford, Forrest, Frank, Gagnon, Garvin, Gatch, Gibson, Gilliam, Gilliard, Gilreath, Govan, Grant, Guest, Guffey, Haddon, Hager, Hardee, Harris, Hart, Hartnett, Hartz, Hayes, Henderson-Myers, Herbkersman, Hewitt, Hiott, Hixon, Holman, Hosey, Howard, Huff, J.E. Johnson, Jones, Jordan, Kilmartin, King, Kirby, Landing, Lastinger, Lawson, Ligon, Long, Lowe, Luck, Magnuson, Martin, McCabe, McCravy, McDaniel, McGinnis, C. Mitchell, D. Mitchell, Montgomery, J. Moore, T. Moore, Morgan, Moss, Neese, B. Newton, W. Newton, Oremus, Pace, Pedalino, Pope, Rankin, Reese, Rivers, Robbins, Rose, Rutherford, Sanders, Schuessler, Scott, Sessions, G.M. Smith, M.M. Smith, Spann-Wilder, Stavrinakis, Taylor, Teeple, Terribile, Vaughan, Waters, Weeks, Wetmore, White, Whitmire, Wickensimer, Williams, Willis, Wooten and Yow
Document Path: LC-0455VR-GM26.docx
Introduced in the House on March 3, 2026
Adopted by the House on March 3, 2026
Summary: Fred J. Grooms' service
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

3/3/2026

House

Introduced and adopted (
House Journal-page 3
)

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legislative information
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VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
03/03/2026

A
house
RESOLUTION

To recognize and honor First Sergeant Fred J. Grooms
Sr. (Retired) for his lifetime of service to his community, his church, and his
nation.

W
hereas, born on March
19, 1941, in Hopkins, Fred Grooms was reared in a loving home with devoted
parents and thirteen siblings. The son of a sharecropper and domestic worker,
he learned discipline in his formative years as a teenager working on Burnside
farm, and his life stands as a powerful testament to a journey navigated
through faith, perseverance, and service; and

W
hereas, after graduating
from Hopkins High School in 1959, he enlisted in the United States Army,
embarking on a career that spanned over two decades. A graduate of the Advanced
Noncommissioned Officer Educational System (ANCOES), he rose to the rank of
First Sergeant. His service included a combat tour in the Dominican Republic
and two in Vietnam, two tours in Germany, and multiple duty stations across the
nation; and

W
hereas, in 1967, while
deployed in South Vietnam in support of Operation Pershing, his unit was
ambushed by a large North Vietnamese force and though under intense fire, he
repeatedly exposed himself to danger, maneuvering his soldiers into defensive
position. In a display of singular courage, he individually attacked an enemy
automatic weapons station, sustaining gunshot wounds to the chest and leg, an
act of bravery that rallied his company to defeat a numerically superior force;
and

W
hereas, First Sergeant
Grooms served for two years with the 82nd Airborne Division, and his military decorations
and honors included the Airborne Badge, Combat Infantryman Badge, Bronze Star
Medal with "V" Device (1 Oak Leaf Cluster), Purple Heart (1 Oak Leaf Cluster), Air
Medal, Army Commendation Medal (2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Good Conduct Medal (5th
Award), National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, and
Vietnam Service Medal; and

W
hereas, dedicated to
his community, First Sergeant Grooms was honored for helping to establish the
Reeder Point Association Community Center in 1970, a vital neighborhood meeting
place for the Lower Richland area. In 1971, he joined the Modern Free and
Accepted Masons of the World Inc., a fraternal brotherhood dedicated to the
values of service and character; and

W
hereas, after retiring
from the United States Army, he earned an associate degree in business
management from Midlands Technical College in 1986 and began a successful
second career within Richland County School District One as building supervisor
at A. C. Moore Elementary School; and

W
hereas, a lifelong,
dedicated member of Sweet Home Baptist Church in Columbia, Fred Grooms has served
as a Sunday school superintendent, vacation Bible school director, and Sunday
school teacher. Ordained as a deacon in 1980 and serving for over forty-five
years, he currently is chairman of the deacon board, and he has been a member
of the men's choir, pastor's aid, and usher board. He also has been an active
member of the Wateree Baptist Association Upper Division, where he has been a
tireless champion for Sweet Home Baptist Church, and his faith is the
cornerstone of his life, driving his mission to help others prosper in both
their spiritual and personal lives; and

W
hereas, Fred Grooms
was married to his beloved Annie Ruth Evans for sixty years, spending more than
ten years as her primary caregiver, providing loving support following a major change
in her health before her death in 2024. They reared three fine children: Sonja
Grooms-Smith, Major Fred J. Grooms Jr. (Ret.), and Alexander E. Grooms, and have
been blessed with the love of five grandchildren; and

W
hereas, the South
Carolina House of Representatives is grateful for the leadership of its
citizens, like Fred Grooms, who set a standard for all who know him of unwavering
faith, steadfast dedication to excellence, and profound love. Now, therefore,

B
e it resolved by the
House of Representatives
:

T
hat the members of the
South Carolina
House of Representatives
,
by this resolution, recognize and honor First Sergeant Fred J. Grooms Sr. (Retired)
for his lifetime of service to his community, his church, and his nation.

B
e it further resolved
that a copy of this resolution be presented to First Sergeant Fred J. Grooms
Sr.

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This web page was last updated on March 3, 2026 at 1:02 PM