The children of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in South Carolina will, from now on, receive college scholarships from the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. The MC-LEF is a national foundation originally founded to provide educational assistance to the children of fallen Marines and federal law enforcement officers.
Foundation vice chairman Dick Torykian handed U.S. Treasury bonds worth $30,000 each to 9-year-old Austin Haynes and his 6-year-old brother Chandler Wednesday in the governor's office. Their father, Lance Corporal James Haynes of the SC Highway Patrol, was killed February 1 while responding to an accident on I-26 near Orangeburg. His patrol car skidded on wet pavement and hit a utility pole.
"My father said that when the breadwinner dies, the children are thrown on God's mercy. So we try to be an instrument there and help out as best we can these youngsters who are left behind, because they are our most precious asset," Torykian said. He's one of five former Marines who created the foundation in 1995. Since then, it has raised more than $35 million and given aid to more than 2,300 children. Money for the scholarships comes from private donations.
Lance Corporal Haynes' widow, Angie, says she can't get over the fact that strangers would provide so much help to her and her sons. "If it was a small amount, it didn't matter. The idea of someone wanting to do that, that's what was so important. So, right now, I'm still speechless. It's a relief just to know that it's there, that it will be there for them," she says.
The scholarships are in the form of U.S. Treasury bonds that mature when the boys turn 18.
The foundation also agreed to extend the scholarships to the children of Colleton County Deputy Dennis Compton and Orangeburg Deputy William Howell. It will also provide them for any state or local officers in the state killed in the line of duty in the future.
Compton was shot and killed August 6 while responding to a home's burglar alarm. He had four children.
Howell was shot May 3 while responding to a domestic disturbance call. He had three sons.
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