Heart of a Patriot: How I Found the Courage to Survive Vietnam, Walter Reed and Karl Rove

Max Cleland is a Viet Nam veteran, triple amputee, former head of the Veteran's Administration, former US Senator, and member of the 9/11 Commission. He is also a survivor of war and politics (another form of war), as well as the psychological trauma experienced by combat veterans. Cleland seems honest in telling of his fears and setbacks as well as his triumphs. He has managed to work through hs PTSD with the help of his family, friends, faith, counselors, and medication. This is his personal story, but it is also the story of the nation and how we often ignore the needs of those who have defended us. He offers a unique perspective from his experience as veteran, patient, adminstrator, and legislator. My eyes were opened. I recommend this book.

The Karl Rove generation was initially pandered to by Reagan-nauts, eager to have clones as their legacy it seems. Where Rove got rich consulting on political mis-deeds, however well funded by Texas deep pockets, MAX CONTINUES TO STAND FAR TALLER - in statureand values - than Rove shall ever know or achieve as a Fox News contributor today! YET Max and OUR GENERATION who served honorably in military uniform overseas during the protracted Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia wars have not always come to grips with the changes we found on our "home-coming" to the country of our birth we had left just a few years previous. REMINDER # One = Five (5) U. S. Presidents prosecuted and conducted 'our' Vietnam, Laos nd Cambodia Wars! All of those presidents were WW-II veterans! They stll call themselves "America's Greatest Generation"! Some things, I guess I'll just never understand fully nor completely. In many cases, then as now = "America, we still don't know you anymore"! Max Cleland's latest book helps fill that void many of us still feel - as health care providers to fellow veterans, confidants, case managers, counselors and even outreach workers for our homeless veteran brothers and sisters still on the streets. REMINDER # Two = Without Max's sigificant, national leadership as VA Secretary the "store-front vet centers" would never have been realized and still operating today - even for those still returning from Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan and other South Asia or Middle Eastern venues or combat zones. Whereas the current VA Secretary has set a "five-year goal" to eradicate veteran homelessness - he would do well to read then heed the public VA papers and three (3) books of Max Cleland, his far-seeing predecessor. MAX, may of us out here still remember and we still salute ya == anytime you "shoot basketball hoops" anywhere! ;-)

I met Max when I worked at the Signal School at Fort Monmouth, NJ. You knew then that he was a go-getter. His book makes me ashamed of how our Congress and Presidents have handled our veterans and the conflicts around the world. This story is an inspiration to all who need support for their physical and mental defeats. Thanks Max for telling it like it is!!!

The devil's spoor, aka Rove, and his gang of demi-demons, destroyed the career of this great public servant. He had only given three limbs for his country while Cheney and company were otherwise engaged. Cleland was devastated by war and his spirit hurt by the voters of Georgia who bought the haters' line that somehow this man had not done enough, that he was not sufficiently patriotic; they denied his return to the Senate. But this guy came back, and we see him emerge again in this fine book, whole in spirit if not in limb. Please read it. In doing so you will not only learn something but you will repudiate some of the worst human beings to ever leave their mark, like a nasty male cat in heat, on American political life.

I returned from Vietnam in August 1970 after serving as an infantry Lieutenant. I was a platoon leader with the First Infantry Division with our battalion headquarters located at Dau Tieng. Max Cleland and I share the experience of serving in Vietnam. That is where our commonality stops since I escaped even being woulded. He is a patriot of patriots. Having endured the life-altering injuries which left him missing parts of himself, he has inspired many of us and others dealing with life's difficulties. He tells us all this in his new book, "Heart of a Patriot." The injuries suffered in Vietnam were only the beginning of his trials. Walter Reed did not give him the best care. Mr. Cleland goes on to become more that anyone ever dreamed. An then there is Karl Rove, a man with two arms and two legs, whose greatness and patiotism fail to measure up to that of Max Cleland. Author of: Mr. NewHeart - Heart Attack to Transplant and Beyond