South Carolina H 5378: A HOUSE RESOLUTION TO CELEBRATE THE MEMBERS OF THE BISHOP ENGLAND HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS LACROSSE TEAM FOR A SUPERB SEASON AND TO CONGRATULATE THEM ON WINNING THE 2018 SOUTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE CLASS AAAA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE.

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 5378 Text of Previous Version (Mar. 24, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 5378

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A house RESOLUTION

To honor and remember the supreme 
sacrifice made by Army SpEcialist 4 RAy Anthony Ruth of walterboro on December 
12, 1985, and to express the profound appREciation of a grAtEful state and 
nation for his life, sacrifice, and service.

Whereas, with deep appreciation, the members of the South Carolina 
House of Representatives pause in their deliberations to honor and remember the 
great sacrifice made by Army Specialist 4 Ray Anthony Ruth, along with 256 
others, in December of 1985; and

Whereas, on December 12, 1985, Army Specialist 4 Ray Ruth, along with 
247 other soldiers were on their way home from a peacekeeping deployment in the 
Sinai. The plane carrying soldiers mostly from the 101st Airborne Division's 
3rd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, crashed shortly after taking off from a 
refueling stop in Gander, Newfoundland. All 248 soldiers and the plane's eight 
crew members were killed. This tragedy was the largest loss of life in a single 
event and day that this division has ever experienced. The United States Army 
has marked the anniversary of the crash every year since it happened, 
celebrating the lives and sacrifices of every brave service member aboard; and

Whereas, Ray Anthony Ruth, a native of Walterboro, was the eldest of 
five children born to Nathaniel and Sarah Joerena Ruth. He enjoyed fishing and 
hunting with his father and played baseball for a local team growing up. He attended 
Walterboro High School and joined the Army upon graduation. He had planned to 
make the Army his career. At 24, and four years into the Army, he was an Army 
Specialist 4 radio operator and had been stationed in New Jersey, Georgia, 
Columbia, and West Germany before he was assigned to this six-month peacekeeping 
mission in the Middle East; and 

Whereas, Army Specialist 4 Ray Anthony Ruth was laid to rest on 
Friday, February 21, 1986, at Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church. His family was presented 
with the United States flag, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Superior 
Unit Award, the Multinational Service Medal, and the Multinational Force and 
Observers Beret by Brigadier General Robert Chelberg, the deputy commander at 
Fort Jackson; and 

Whereas, the South Carolina General Assembly is honored to remember 
the life and sacrifice of Ray Anthony Ruth, a brave son and hero of the 
Palmetto State. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of 
Representatives:

That the members of the South Carolina House 
of Representatives, by this resolution, honor and remember the supreme 
sacrifice made by Army Specialist 4 Ray Anthony Ruth of Walterboro on December 
12, 1985, and to express the profound appreciation of a grateful State and nation 
for his life, sacrifice, and service.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to 
the family of Ray Anthony Ruth.

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