Andrew Smith grew up in Easley, South Carolina and attended the College of Charleston. During his Junior year, he felt his life needed a drastic change. Smith says. “There were all these things going on in the world, and I was missing out.”
He joined the Marines in 2008, was deployed to MEU. In 2010, SGT Smith was sent on his 2nd deployment to Haiti to provide emergency aid. Upon his return, Corporal Smith successfully became a Marine sniper. While on a deployment in Afghanistan, on May 15, 2011, Corporal Andrew Smith was severely injured from mortar shrapnel while under enemy attack. Moving quickly, medics placed Smith aboard a helicopter for transport to a hospital at Camp Leatherneck, where Smith had first arrived in Afghanistan.
He was discharged from the hospital on May 27, 2011 after several surgeries. He was honorably discharged from the Marines the following January, leaving the military as a sergeant. He earned the Purple Heart, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Navy Unit Commendation, NATO Medal-ISAF Afghanistan, and the Presidential Unit Citation.
Sergeant Smith has gone on to graduate from the Charleston School of Law Summa Cum Laude and is now an attorney in Charleston. He is a true American Hero.
