Senator demands Michael Haley apologize to Guard families

A retired South Carolina Air National Guard general took to the floor of the state Senate Monday to angrily demand that first gentleman Michael Haley apologize to the families of three slain SC National Guard soldiers for a Facebook posting.

Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, a retired Air Force and Guard fighter pilot and general, was upset Haley used the deaths of the three Guardsmen last week in Afghanistan to make a point about the failure of one of his wife’s pet political issues.

Leventis and state Sen. Jake Knotts, R-Lexington, said they were appalled when Michael Haley, who works as a strategic plans and training officer for the National Guard, wrote on Thursday: “It amazes me that in a week that we have heroes who have died fighting for our freedoms, we have cowards who are afraid to take a vote in the (S)enate.”

Michael Haley was referring to the Department of Administration bill that failed to come up for a vote on the last day that it could be considered in the Senate. Gov. Nikki Haley made the bill one of her top priorities after her 2010 election.

Earlier Thursday, the SC National Guard had announced that three members of the Timmonsville-based 133rd Military Police Company were killed by a suicide bomber in Khost Province. Two of the soldiers killed were from the Columbia area.

“This is politics at its worst by taking citizens at their best and someone saying that, basically, ‘I know what they would have wanted,’ ” Leventis said after his speech. “I don’t think they fought for (the Department of Administration).”

After Leventis addressed the Senate, state Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Charleston, rose to note that Leventis flew more than 20 missions in the Persian Gulf War, adding Leventis was no coward, even if he opposed the Administration Department.

Knotts, a Navy veteran, said he called SC Adjutant General Robert Livingston, head of the state’s National Guard, to ask him to look into Michael Haley’s comments.

“I wasn’t trying to be political,” said Knotts, who has butted heads with Gov. Haley, a fellow Lexington Republican. “I want him (Livingston) to do whatever he has to do in his limits to not let this happen again. This is not the way the Guard can be perceived in South Carolina.”

Gov. Haley’s office said Michael Haley was speaking as a citizen.

“The first gentleman was expressing his frustration with the inaction of the Senate on reforms critical to our state,” said Rob Godfrey, a spokesman for the governor. “He will continue to proudly serve with the brave men and women in the SC National Guard.”

This story was originally published June 26, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Senator demands Michael Haley apologize to Guard families."