Governor's Husband Deploys to Afghanistan for One Year

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and her two children – Nalin, 10, and Rena, 14 – bid a tearful farewell to husband and father Michael yesterday as he prepared to ship off with the National Guard for a month of training and then deployment for a year in Afghanistan, reports USA Today.

Captain Michael Haley, who joined the guard as an officer in 2006, hugged his wife and two children in a moving send-off for 47 men and women at the National Guard site outside of Columbia, SC. 

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"We are a proud military family who understands the sacrifices any family goes through when a loved on is serving his or her country," the governor, a Republican, said in a statement.  

This will be Haley's first overseas deployment with his unit, which will not return to South Carolina before its yearlong mission to help Afghani farmers. 

"We're no different than anybody else," said Governor Haley to USA Today. "We go into the situation knowing that we can get the call."

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Parenting salutes this proud military family and asks you readers to send in your stories, photos and videos of a family's deployment and return.