Heart of the patriot, Max Cleland

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Nov. 2, 2009

A grenade explosion in Vietnam left him a triple amputee, he lost his Senate seat in 2002 after his opponent’s ads suggested he was unpatriotic, and the U.S. invasion of Iraq awakened his long-dormant case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Still, Senator Max Cleland remains a self-proclaimed patriot and veterans’ advocate. He talks with Patt about the costs and joy of serving one’s country no matter what the cost, the disillusionment of coming home from war and his own struggles, from PTSD to political opponents.

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A grenade explosion in Vietnam left him a triple amputee, he lost his Senate seat in 2002 after his opponent’s ads suggested he was unpatriotic, and the U.S. invasion of Iraq awakened his long-dormant case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Still, Senator Max Cleland remains a self-proclaimed patriot and veterans’ advocate. He talks with Patt about the costs and joy of serving one’s country no matter what the cost, the disillusionment of coming home from war and his own struggles, from PTSD to political opponents.

Also on this episode

Guest:

Senator Max Cleland, former Democratic senator from Georgia; he has served as the head of the Veterans Administration and on the 9/11 Commission; he is the author with Ben Raines of “Heart of a Patriot: How I Found the Courage to Survive Vietnam, Walter Reed and Karl Rove”

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