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Print This StoryFuneral Caisson Team May Lose State Funding
Money Used For Upkeep On Horses
CHARLESTON, S.C.
-- The white horses that bore Sen. Strom Thurmond and Capt. Kimberly
Hampton to their final resting place may not have state money to work with
next year.
Gov. Mark Sanford's executive budget
would cut money for the state's eight-horse caisson team which was used in
those funeral processions, as well as the funerals for U.S. Rep. Floyd
Spence and police officers killed in the line of duty.
Sanford proposes eliminating $100,000 for the unit. The volunteers
who run it say they can't raise that much from donations.
Steve Riggs heads the 15 volunteers. He said it's hard to put a
price on those who die protecting people.
Gubernatorial spokesman Will Folks said difficult decisions must be
made when the state faces a $350 million budget shortfall for the coming
year.
Folks said Sanford has promised to help raise the money from
private sources.
The money is used for feeding, boarding, transporting and
outfitting costs.
 South Carolina's caisson team carried Capt. Kimberly Hampton's body to the grave site in Easley Saturday. |
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