CAMP HANSON, Helmand province, Afghanistan -- Macon,

CAMP HANSON, Helmand province, Afghanistan -- Macon, Ga., native Sgt. Stephen M. Smith, the armory maintenance chief for 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, is a left leg, below-the-knee amputee. He survived an Improvised Explosive Device blast in Ramadi, Iraq, in 2006, but didn’t let it stop him from being a Marine. He re-enlisted as an armorer after recovering from his injury, and requested to be deployed to Afghanistan.