MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii -- In the movie “Good Will Hunting,” Matt Damon played the role of a janitor who had a secret talent that nobody knew about. That talent was in the field of mathematics. But, what people don’t know is that there is a Good Will Hunting-type character stationed aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii. But he is no janitor, and his gift is in the field of art.
Lance Cpl. Chadwell R. Cameron, administration personnel clerk, Headquarters Battalion, said he has been drawing since before he could remember. His favorite hobby is making stencil sketches of people.
“I have been drawing since probably before I could even spell my own name,” said the 22-year-old Manchester, Jamaica native. “I go home and draw until I go to sleep. Then I wake up, go to work, and start drawing when I get home again.”
One goal that Cameron has is to start teaching youths on base how to draw. Before he joined the Marine Corps, he worked at a pottery studio that helped children who were less fortunate.
“I want to help kids, because I was given that opportunity when I was a kid,” he said. “I could have been passed over.”
Though Cameron is trying to switch his military occupational specialty to become a combat illustrator, he said he loves his job at the customer service branch of Installation Personnel Administration Center.
“I chose this MOS because it gave me the opportunity to work with computers,” he said. “I wasn’t computer literate and most the things I know now about computers came from my training at MOS school.”
Cameron said he prefers his job as an administration clerk to one at the pottery studio because he is able to have more interaction with people. When he worked at the pottery studio there were only two other people who worked there.
Cameron said the lack of interaction with more people is why he left the pottery studio last year to join the Marine Corps.
“I wanted to be a part of an organization of value and that would set a foundation for a family,” he said. “And I chose the Marine Corps, because Marines are the hard chargers. They are the toughest.”
The Marine Corps recently came through in setting a foundation for a family for Cameron. He was married on April 1 and his wife gave birth to his first child on Labor Day. As strange as it may seem, this holiday has been a special part of Cameron’s life since he was born — on Labor Day in Jamaica.
Another hobby Cameron has is writing songs during his off-duty time.
“I’ve always been creative and had a huge imagination,” he said. “I can’t express my imagination verbally, so all I could do is draw or write it out.”
Cameron said he plans on staying in the Marine Corps as long as possible. When the day comes and he finally ends his career in the Marine Corps, he said he plans on establishing a program for youths that will help children who have rough lives.