Former Senator Max Cleland of Georgia has died at 79. Cleland lost three limbs in Vietnam, but that didn’t stop him from seeking higher office, where he served for decades, adding more Georgians to the voting rolls and advocating for veterans.
Cleland was interested in politics before he joined the military in the 1960s. He said he had felt it was his obligation to serve in the war that ultimately cost him both legs and his right arm.
In 2009 he told NPR that he replayed volunteering for the mission where he lost his limbs “a million times” in his mind. It was April 8, 1968, and he was getting out of a helicopter at the siege of Khe Sanh, following another soldier who, unbeknownst to him, had dropped a live grenade.
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