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Citadel cadet becomes first amputee to make precision drill platoon - Georgia veteran to undergo surgery decade after being shot in face

FOX News

When 20-year-old U.S. Navy hopeful Cameron Massengale lost his arm in a work accident, he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to march as a cadet at The Citadel again. But thanks to a custom prosthetic arm and his refusal to settle, Massengale has not only returned to the group but also became the first amputee to make the university's Summerall Guards, a silent precision drill platoon, in January. Massengale is the first amputee to make the platoon at The Citadel, a military college in Charleston, S.C. It just kind of happens," Massengale told FoxNews.com. Massengale has four prosthetics, including one myoelectric prosthetic with a bionic hand and a drill prosthetic has a two-fingered hook so he can perform quick, open-and-close movements like picking up or setting down his rifle. Creating his drill arm took some trial and error, said Jon Nottingham, a certified prosthetist orthotist and area clinic manager at the Hanger Clinic in Greenville, South Carolina.