Max Cleland Served His Country In More Ways Than One
Photo Credits: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
On April 8, 1968, with one month left in his tour in Vietnam, Max Cleland and two other soldiers were ordered to establish a radio relay station on a hill. Upon reaching the hill by helicopter, Cleland jumped out first and found a grenade on the ground that he thought was his own. Upon picking it up it exploded, shredding his legs and one arm. The grenade had been another soldier’s that had forgotten to bend the pin.
At 25 years old, he had both legs and one arm amputated. He was the recipient of the Silver Star, and the Bronze Star. He also went on to serve as the Democratic Senator of Georgia, was the Administrator of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of American Battle Monuments Commission and served on the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
