[ubiquity0]

Originally posted by bryanthompson

What that article does is point out the crutch lefties like to lean on so much...
lefty 'hero', Max Cleland, blew his own legs off by picking up a live grenade.

According to Cleland's campaign manager Oct. 26, 2002

Thank you for your service sirs, but inflicting wounds upon yourselves does not make you heroes. The real heroes are the guys over in Iraq and Afghanistan right now, and all the men and who selflessly served in the past.

Basically your point seems to be that he was stupid, therefore not a 'war hero' and has since milked the small inconvenience of losing 3 limbs for his country for everything he can get. I guess it all started by becoming a spokesperson for the welfare of veterans. That selfish pile of *****!



Joseph Maxwell "Max" Cleland (1942- )

"Military Service

Army ROTC; Stetson University
U.S. Army 1965-1968; Commisioned Second Lieutenant and promoted to Captain 1968
Airborne, Ft. Benning, Georgia
Aide de Camp, Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey
Volunteered for duty in Vietnam in 1967
Wounded in grenade explosion April 8, 1968 (lost both legs and right arm)
Recovered from injuries "in various Army and Veterans Administration hospitals"
Awarded Bronze Star and Silver Star
"Cleland volunteered as communications officer for 2d Battalion, 12th Cavalry, which had been chosen for Operation Pegasus – the relief of Khe Sanh – in April 1968. CPT Cleland was on a mountaintop with his Signal team to set up a radio relay when he lost his legs and right arm to a grenade explosion. For Khe Sanh he received the Bronze Star for meritorious service and Silver Star for gallantry in action."

The awards of star medals appear unrelated to the grenade explosion accident which caused hs injuries. The Silver Star Medal Citation references action on 4 April. The grenade explosion was on 8 April.


Grenade Explosion Accident. In his own words,

On April 8, 1968, I volunteered for one last mission. The helicopter moved in low. The troops jumped out with M16 rifles in hand as we crouched low to the ground to avoid the helicopter blades. Then I saw the grenade. It was where the chopper had lifted off. It must be mine, I thought. Grenades had fallen off my web gear before. Shifting the M16 to my left hand and holding it behind me, I bent down to pick up the grenade. A blinding explosion threw me backwards.

Veterans Affairs

"In 1969, Cleland was asked to testify before the United States Senate Veterans Affairs Committee to describe the difficulties veterans were experiencing returning home from Vietnam. The next year, Cleland was elected to the Georgia State Senate, thus beginning a 33-year career in public service. As the youngest member of the Georgia Senate at the age of 28, he wrote the state law making public facilities in the state accessible to the elderly and the handicapped."


Political Career

Georgia State Senate, 1971-1975 [12]
In 1975, Cleland was hired to work for the U.S. Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. Two years later, President Jimmy Carter appointed him to head the U.S. Veterans Administration. As the youngest ever VA Administrator and the first Vietnam veteran to head the agency, Cleland instituted the revolutionary 'Vets Center' program which, for the first time, offered psychological counseling to combat veterans to heal the emotional wounds of war. There are now more than 200 Vets Centers across the country offering support to combat and non-combat veterans and their families."


Consultant to Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs 1975
Professional Senate staff member 1975-1977
Administrator of United States Veterans Administration 1977-1981
"In 1982, Georgia voters elected him Secretary of State, the youngest in Georgia's history. In that position, Cleland fought for tougher campaign finance laws and cracked down on securities and telemarketing fraud. In 1995, he implemented the National Voter Registration Act ('motor voter') in Georgia, which added almost one million new voters to the rolls. In 1995, he resigned his position as Secretary of State to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Sam Nunn. Despite being out-spent three to one, Cleland won the race and was sworn-in to the United States Senate in 1997."


Secretary of State 1982-1996
United States Senate 1996; served January 7, 1997 to January 3, 2003
Unsuccessful candidate for reelection November 4, 2002 "