CENTRAL, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Two of late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s childhood friends sat down to share memories of the man they knew long before Washington. They described him as a boy who grew up in a small South Carolina town, lost his parents young, and went on to spend decades shaping American policy.Billy Mullinax and Buddy Evatt grew up alongside Graham in Central, S.C. Flipping through a worn high school yearbook, the two recalled a younger version of the senator, one who wrestled, played golf and football, and excelled at ...
CENTRAL, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Two of late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s childhood friends sat down to share memories of the man they knew long before Washington. They described him as a boy who grew up in a small South Carolina town, lost his parents young, and went on to spend decades shaping American policy.
Billy Mullinax and Buddy Evatt grew up alongside Graham in Central, S.C. Flipping through a worn high school yearbook, the two recalled a younger version of the senator, one who wrestled, played golf and football, and excelled at history at D.W. Daniel High School.
Graham lost both of his parents at a young age. Mullinax said he knows that feeling. He said a shared experience of early grief bonded them.
“We can’t help the way we were raised, but we take the way and try to do better, and he did,” Mullinax said.
The friends recalled stories of pool halls, bird hunts, the day Graham earned his pilot’s license, and the day he found what they described as his calling, his Senate seat.
“He had a game plan, he pursued it and made it happen,” Mullinax said.
Evatt said the last time they spoke, he always asked Graham the same question: when are you coming home?
“I said, ‘he’ll know when he’s had enough,’” Evatt said. “But apparently, he got to die doing what he loved,”
“He’s a servant. We all can’t be preachers. We can’t all be lawyers. But we all have to do something in life, and Lindsey did it,” said Mullinax.
Both men said Graham’s connection to Central would not fade.
“Lindsey Graham was a good fighter and he finished and he kept the faith,” Mullinax said. “Lindsey you can come home now and rest.”
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