Max Cleland joined the army in 1965. He was awarded Silver Star as a captain in 1968. Four days before his tour ended, a grenade took both legs and his right arm. Military career over, he turned to public service. President Carter named him to head Veterans Administration, where he worked to have PTSD recognized as a medical condition. He was elected to state legislature and later US Senate. Although he voted for Iraq war authoritazation, he expressed reservations. Up for re-election in 2002, his Republican opponent, Saxby Chsmbliss, who never served, attacked him as unpatriotic, lacking in courage, and soft on terror. He ran ads depicting Cleland flanked by Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. The smear campaign was denounced by fellow Republican John McCain, but it worked. Cleland lost his seat, which remained Republican until this year. Max Cleland died of congestive heart failure last week.
