Heart of a Patriot

Former U.S. Senator Max Cleland talked about his memoir, Heart of a Patriot: How I Found the Courage to Survive Vietnam, Walter Reed and Karl Rove (Simon & Schuster; October 6, 2009), co-written with Ben Raines. After he lost both legs and an arm in Vietnam, he credited President Carter with giving him a path in life when the president choose him to head the U.S. Veterans Administration. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1997 to 2003, but lost his re-election campaign after Republicans called him “unpatriotic.” A long-dormant case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, awakened by the invasion of Iraq, sent him to Walter Reed as a patient, where he was surrounded by veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. Former Senator Cleland talked about sense of purpose that public service has given him. Topics included attacking military service in a political campaign, his service on the 9/11 Commission, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He responded to questions from members of the audience. close