[caption id=“attachment_10886” align=“alignleft” width=“300”]South Carolina National Guard Sgt. Gene Parker - along with Sgt. 1st Class Charles Boone - provided clutch roadside assistance for the USO over the weekend. USO photo South Carolina National Guard Sgt. Gene Parker - along with Sgt. 1st Class Charles Boone - provided clutch roadside assistance for the USO over the weekend. USO photo[/caption]

For the past three years, the USO has provided a day room at Camp McCrady, South Carolina, a remote installation where the Army trains some Navy personnel before deployment. Because of its remote location, National Guardsmen maintain the day room and USO staff checks in on it and delivers supplies as needed.

Last weekend, USO South Carolina Program Manager Katie Kennedy got a flat tire on her way to restock the day room. She immediately called range operations to let them know she would be delayed. She didn’t expect what happened next.

“I wasn’t even on Camp McCrady yet,” Kennedy said. “But they dropped everything to come to my rescue.”

South Carolina National Guard Sgt. Gene Parker and Sgt. 1st Class Charles Boone drove out to Kennedy’s Jeep, changed the flat tire and got her back on the road.

“They knew I was coming out to support the deployment, so I was basically essential personnel,” she said. “It really tells you a lot about how valued your services are when troops act with such haste to make sure you get there on time.

“We’re out there trying to make moments count for them, and here they turn around and make one count for me.”