WASHINGTON, S.C. (WCSC) -- South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace traveled to Israel after learning a South Carolina family was stranded in an active war zone.
What began as a mission to bring one family home turned into a full-scale evacuation, with Rep. Mace joining veteran-led nonprofit Grey Bull Rescue to bring 155 Americans home, including 11 infants and dozens of women and children.
Rep. Mace issued the following statement on the rescue mission:
"I left Israel last night on a flight full of Americans. I originally went because there was a South Carolina family who was stranded. And because when your people are stranded in a war zone, the only answer worthy of the office - worthy of our state - worthy of our country - is to get them out. I have not slept. Not eaten much. And seen things. I am eternally grateful for every exhausting, humbling moment of it.
"There are those who govern from a distance - who weigh the optics or wait for the situation to resolve itself - and then there are those who get on a plane. I am the person who has always gotten on the plane. The family I traveled here for are safely home. But then I learned about more families. Hundreds of families. Thousands. Still stranded. Whom Grey Bull and many other nonprofits are helping.
"Then I heard about Grey Bull Rescue and the Americans they were evacuating. This was Grey Bull's 808th mission. They got out 155 Americans today, women, infants, children. They had the people but didn't have the plane. I jumped in to assist. Seeing this conflict firsthand reminds you of what is at stake when the world becomes dangerous and leadership becomes a question of character, not convenience. Today I am grateful. And I will never forget what I saw. What I learned. And the Americans who volunteered and who are serving our nation patriotically tonight and always. May God bless each and every one of you."
Bryan Stern, founder and chairman of Grey Bull Rescue, provided the following statement on the rescue mission and Rep. Mace's efforts:
"Last night, we evacuated yet another plane full of Americans trapped in Israel held at risk by Iranian missiles and drones. To date, in this war alone, we have rescued 591 Americans. Families. Children. Babies. People who have spent weeks in bomb shelters praying for their very lives, listening to warning sirens, feeling the ground shake from impacts, and watching missiles fly overhead in an indiscriminate war zone where Iranian missiles prey on anything.
This is when Grey Bull Rescue goes to work. Grey Bull has rescued THOUSANDS from Iranian and Iranian-backed terrorists since 7 Oct, then again in June 2025, and now again in this war. "Our team -- made up of Special Operations and Intelligence Community veterans - who grew up in the most elite units and agencies in the U.S. arsenal - deploy to dangerous places to rescue and evacuate Americans to safety.
Today was our team's 808th mission - over 8,700 lives saved....as of last night. With the help of Congresswoman Nancy Mace and in close coordination with the U.S. State Department, just last night we evacuated 155 Americans out of an active war zone. Congresswoman Mace was fully embedded with our team; not to watch but to work to save lives.