Three SC Guardsmen Killed in Afghanistan

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — Three South Carolina Army National Guard soldiers were killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday while conducting combat operations, according to the South Carolina National Guard. Wednesday, 1st Lt. Ryan Davis Rawl, 30, of Lexington, Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Bradford Thomas, 30, of Easley and Spc. John David Meador II, 36, of Columbia were killed in Khowst City, Khowst Province, Afghanistan when their patrol was attacked by a suicide bomber. Five South Carolina National Guard soldiers were also wounded. Rawl, a Richland County sheriff’s deputy and school resource officer at Crayton Middle School, longed to be a soldier, say those who knew and worked with him. They say he knew how to love and discipline the students with a sense of humor. By Friday, his family was on its way to retrieve his body. Ryan Rawl is survived by a loving wife and two children. He was expecting to return home to the Midlands this fall.