Cameron West had always wanted to join the military.
After all, the Acworth, Georgia, native had grown up around military life, having two grandfathers with service backgrounds. West enrolled in the ROTC program at the University of North Georgia, setting him up for a stint in the Marine Corps where he also completed officer candidate school.
He was willing to sacrifice for his country, risking life and limb.
In 2010, while on a dangerous deployment to Afghanistan, West survived an explosion that severed one of his legs and left him with additional injuries. Due to his physical challenges, he decided to retire from the Marine Corps as a captain in 2013 after five years of service.
More than 15 years after the attack, West is reminded daily of what he lost in Afghanistan. He walks with a prosthetic limb. He thinks about the “dozens” of fellow soldiers killed that day.
“Our battalion was put into a very hostile part of Afghanistan,” West told 11 Alive News in Georgia. “We were relieving a battalion that had taken a lot of hits. We knew going in would be a tough deployment. We took a lot of casualties in the first three months.”
But like his grandfathers before him, with the Global War on Terrorism in full force in Iraq and Afghanistan, West wanted to do his part to serve the country.
“Since about single-digit age, nine or ten, I had a letter written that I wanted to join the service and be a Marine,” West said. “It was tough at times. I mean, it’s mental toughness like anything in life. We all kind of struggle with different things throughout our lives: mental, emotional, physical.”
Finding Hope in Recovery
West’s path to recovery didn’t come without roadblocks, but a helping hand came via the Semper Fi and America’s Fund, a charitable organization tasked with providing financial support for critically wounded veterans and their families.
West used funding from the organization to start a farm raising cattle. Outside of farming, he enjoys spending time with his three daughters. Bottom line, he’s making the most of his second shot at life.
“I look at my injury as a gift, because it opened my eyes and mind to why I’m here and what I want my journey and chapters of life to look like in the future."
“I was given a second chance. A lot of us were, and a lot were not. If you take that into consideration, the short answer is live your life I feel the best you can. Try to be kind and respectful to your fellow humans.”
These days, West doesn’t think as much about what he lost on that dark day in Afghanistan. Instead, he considers what he’s gained while also trying to keep alive the memories of his fallen battle buddies.
“If I’m able to limp around and tell a story and try and continue to let those names of the fallen Marines live on through our own individual legacies, I think I’ll have done a little bit of my part to keep it going,” West said. “We’ve got to do right by the boys and in their name, because we’ve got to continue to live on to the best of our ability in their names and not let their stories be forgotten.”
