Cleland's Time At The Front

Various | Hon

[Hon]

Sen. Joseph Maxwell Cleland

Sen. Max Cleland, U.S. senator from Georgia, served in the Army from 1965 to 1968 and as a Signal Corps officer from Oct. 18, 1967 to Dec. 23, 1968 in Vietnam, where he was severely wounded in a grenade explosion. Sen. Cleland was an aide to then-BG Tom Rienzi at Fort Monmouth, N.J., when he volunteered for duty with 1^st Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam. First assigned to 1^st Cavalry’s Signal battalion, CPT Cleland then volunteered as communications officer for 2d Battalion, 12^th Cavalry, which had been chosen for Operation Pegasus – the relief of Khe Sanh – in April 1968. CPT Cleland was on a mountaintop with his Signal team to set up a radio relay when he lost his legs and right arm to a grenade explosion. For Khe Sanh he received the Bronze Star for meritorious service and Silver Star for gallantry in action.

http://www.gordon.army.mil/ocos/rdiv/REGTNCO/cleland.asp

From Khe San Chronology 1962-1972:

Apr 1 [1968] - Operation PEGASUS begins; 2/1 and 2/3 (1st Marines) attack west from Ca Lu along Route 9. Elements of 3d Bde, 1st ACD conduct helo assaults into LZ Mike and Cates. Joint engineer task force begins repair of Route 9 from Ca Lu to Khe Sanh.

Apr 3 - 2d Bde, 1st ACD assaults LZs Tom and Wharton.

Apr 4 - 1/5 CavSqd moves northwest from LZ Wharton and attacks enemy units near old French fort; 1st Battalion, 9th Marines moves southeast from rock quarry and assaults Hill 471.

Apr 5 - 1/9 repulses enemy counterattack on Hill 471 and kills 122 North Vietnamese. 1st Bde, 1st ACD departs Ca Lu and assaults LZ Snapper.

Apr 6 - One company of 3d ARVN Airborne Task Force airlifted to KSCB for the initial link up with defenders. Elements of 2d Bde, 1st ACD relieve 1st Battalion, 9th Marines on Hill 471; 1/9 commences sweep to northwest toward Hill 689.

1st Bde, 1st ACD helilifted north of KSCB. 2/26 and 3/26 push north of combat base; Company G, 2/26 engages enemy force and kills 48 NVA.

Apr 8 - 2/7 CavSqd links up with 26th Marines and conducts official relief of combat base. 1/26 attacks to the west. 3d ARVN Airborne Task Force air assaults into LZ Snake west of Khe Sanh and kills 78 North Vietnamese.

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/4867/timeline.html

From Doxagora (a post that is meant to be very laudatory of Cleland):

While an aide [to a general] at Forth Monmouth, NJ, Cleland volunteered for a combat tour with the 1st Air Cavalry Division. Once in-theatre, then-Captain Cleland volunteered for a post as communications officer with 2d Battalion, 12th Cavalry in April, 1968. This is meaningful because Cleland knowingly volunteered for Operation PEGASUS.

Some context: At 5:30 AM on January 21st, an NVA artillery barrage hammered away at the forward base of Khe Sanh in what would prove to be a grim foreshadowing of the Tet Offensive, nine days away. By February, enemy fire made it impossible to supply Khe Sanh by C-130, and the military was forced to use paradrops and helicopters in concert with sustained attacks against NVA anti-air emplacements. Outside Khe Sanh, 20,000 NVA soldiers prepared for assault, testing Marine lines with hundreds of men at a time.

Operation PEGASUS was an air assault operation designed to break the back of the NVA at Khe Sanh. 2d Battalion, 12th Cavalry was one of the first two forces into the area, landing on April 1st at LZ WHARTON, just south of a ruined French fort (used by the NVA as the main stronghold for their attacks on the Marines) and the road leading north to Khe Sanh. 2/12 Cav and 1/5 Cav secured WHARTON, which would serve as the staging area for the assault on the fort.

On April 4, two days before the 2/5 Cav attacked the fort from LZ WHARTON, Cleland won his Silver Star. Cleland was at the battalion command post at WHARTON when NVA forces began a rocket and mortar barrage in an attempt to dislodge the Americans from their position. According to Cleland's Silver Star Order:

Capt. Cleland, disregarding his own safety, exposed himself to the rocket barrage as he left his covered position to administer first aid to his wounded comrades. He then assisted in moving the injured personnel to covered positions. Continuing to expose himself, Capt. Cleland organized his men into a work party to repair the battalion communications equipment which had been damaged by enemy fire. His gallant action is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

Three days later, the Old French Fort fell. On April 8, American forces set up within the defenses of Khe Sanh. 2/7 Cav moved from LZ THOR (east of WHARTON) and cleared a road to Khe Sanh, allowing American forces to link up with the Marines in the base.

Cleland was ordered to set up a radio relay on a nearby mountain. He and his signals team were airlifted to the site. While disembarking from the helicopter, Cleland saw a grenade that he thought had fallen from his webbing. Cleland tells what happened:

On April 8, 1968, I volunteered for one last mission. The helicopter moved in low. The troops jumped out with M16 rifles in hand as we crouched low to the ground to avoid the helicopter blades. Then I saw the grenade. It was where the chopper had lifted off. It must be mine, I thought. Grenades had fallen off my web gear before. Shifting the M16 to my left hand and holding it behind me, I bent down to pick up the grenade.

A blinding explosion threw me backwards.

The grenade turned out to belong to an inexperienced soldier who had incorrectly set the pin for a hair-trigger detonation.

Seven days later, Operation PEGASUS was ended as the NVA was forced out of the area. From the beginning of the siege to the end of PEGASUS, 730 Americans were killed in action, 2,642 were wounded, and 7 were officially classified as missing in action. A few months later, Khe Sanh was officially abandoned.

Although Cleland's injury occurred in a combat zone, during general combat operations, Cleland was not eligible for a Purple Heart, as his injury did not occur while in direct combat with the enemy. ("Friendly fire" injuries qualify for the Purple Heart only if the fire was directed at an enemy.)

http://www.doxagora.com/

[Hon]

I fill in more details as I find them.

Of course this is not to denigrate Cleland's service in any way shape or form. It is simply to clarify the record.

[Cathryn Crawford]

Okay.

[cweese]

...great post! any chance of finding similar details concerning sen. heinz's record?...

[sirshackleton]

While the clarification is appreciated, I don't think we should hold something like this against Cleland.

[TexasCajun]

Note to self:

Do Not Pick Up Hand Grenades I Find!

[Hon]

"While the clarification is appreciated, I don't think we should hold something like this against Cleland."

I don't hold his time at the front against Cleland. I do object to some of his self-portrayals, which would make him out to be Audie Murphy and Sargent York combined.

[NautiNurse]

Cleland was not eligible for a Purple Heart, as his injury did not occur while in direct combat with the enemy.

This last line was the most amazing.

[familyofman]

8 days at the front & he gets wounded. I can think of a lot of soldiers that spent less than a day at the front & never came home. Think Omaha Beach on D Day for starters.

Jessica Lynch wasn't even at the front & she came home a wounded "hero".

Some things in life just aren't worth trying to bring up to denigrate your political opponent & this is surely one of them. For pity sakes - quit going after our servicemen & women - have you no shame?

[Hon]

Cleland was not eligible for a Purple Heart, as his injury did not occur while in direct combat with the enemy.
This last line was the most amazing.

++++++

Yes, I actually posted that a while back on this thread:

The Purple Heart [Superstitions]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1079832/posts

And Ann Coulter also pointed it out in her last column.

[Wheee The People]

He was there. That counts, and I honor his service. I spit on his judgement after that, but here was there...

[Hon]

I am denigrating nothing. How can the truth be denigrating?

I take it you are not reading some of the remarks Cleland has been making for the last several months. You might start with this thread here:

His new mission: Elect Kerry [Max Cleland]

[Hon]

"And then, after demanding hugs from everybody in the little union hall in eastern Wisconsin, Cleland pressed on with his mission.

"The Bush slime machine," he barked, will stop at nothing to smear a genuine war hero, John Kerry. The president, he said, got his "daddy" to keep him out of combat in Vietnam, and now he's created another "quagmire" that's getting American "kids" maimed and killed.

"If he'd gone to Vietnam maybe he'd have learned some lessons," snapped Cleland, who lost three limbs in that war.

It's payback time for Max Cleland."

From the article linked in my reply above.

[Gippers Brigade]

Ann Coulter is braver and more of a hero than that pseudo-patriot cleland. how dare he expolit his 3 lost limbs for political gain, has he no shame?

[Robe]

inexperienced soldier who had incorrectly set the pin for a hair-trigger detonation

#1. How do you SET the pin on a grenade for a hair-trigger detonation?

The way I heard it... From Cleland"sown mouth at a dinner in Atlanta 'bout 6-8 years ago, was..... he had affixed the grenade to his webbing BY THE PIN RING!!!!...When he bent over the weight of the grenade pulled out the pin and it fell to the ground... he then bent over to pick it up when it went off !!!!

[familyofman]

"I am denigrating nothing."

You sure are!!! And it is not becomming at all. Is it denigrating to say "GWB was never at the front", which is also true. Either accept the service that each gave, or say nothing. Attacking those that gave service to our country is not something we should be engaging in here - leave that to the fools over at DU.

[bobo1]

I would make a minor protest. I simply consider heros to be heros. Cleland does not fit the definition, as does Kerry.

I am wearied of those that wish to claim the status without the substance. Cleland merely appealed to the sympathy vote.

Go ahead and flame me. He is a jerk using his war wounds for his own ambition, just like Hanoi John.

A pox be upon them.

Blessings, bobo

[Smartass]

Some people just can't stand the truth!!!

[wtc911]

All I know about you here is your consistant attacks on the service records of Kerry and Cleland. You need to find another bone to gnaw on. Both of these guys enlisted and both volunteered for combat zone assignments. What they did subsequent to returning to the US in no way diminishes their service, except for those of you who wish to believe so.

A serious question for you to answer or ignore...when did you serve and what hazardous duty did you volunteer for?

[Hon]

"You sure are!!! And it is not becomming at all. Is it denigrating to say "GWB was never at the front", which is also true. Either accept the service that each gave, or say nothing. Attacking those that gave service to our country is not something we should be engaging in here - leave that to the fools over at DU."

You're crazy. I have simply compiled material--ALL of which is from sites that are highly favorable to Cleland or neutral (as in the case of the chronology).

Get a grip!

[optimistically_conservative]

Your headline is misleading, not sure the battle for Khe Sahn can be considered the limit of Cleland's "front-line" experience in Vietnam. I've also done some research on this.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1080821/posts?page=92#92

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1080821/posts?page=104#104

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1080821/posts?page=155#155

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1080821/posts?page=168#168

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1076535/posts?page=220#220