South Carolina H 5290: Baby Olivia Act

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 5290 Text of Previous Version (Mar. 03, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 5290

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

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

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.

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

That 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.

Be 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 03, 2026 at 01:02 PM