Posted on 02/23/2004 11:18:54 AM PST by 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 1st Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam. First assigned to 1st Cavalry’s Signal battalion, CPT Cleland then volunteered as communications officer for 2d Battalion, 12th 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.
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.
http://www.doxagora.com/
You have to understand that there are 'conservatives' on FR who, if the Democrats nominated Jesus, would immediately begin to nudge each other and crack jokes about Mary Magdelene.
This is the problem I have with the whole situation, and a lot of it is not of Cleland's making. Others are distorting the record to advance their own political agendas. Cleland should disavow any attempts to make the circumstances of his injuries out to be more than they were. If he does not do this, if he willingly allows others to distort the record as it regards him, then he should be held accountable for that failing. But, I think he himself has been fairly above-board in disavowing any "heroism" act. It is true that he spilled blood and left limbs on the battlefield, but it was the result of an unfortunate accident, not enemy action.
Fact is, Max Cleland was elected to the Senate by his fellow citizens. As far as I know he served honorably there, although I think he may have tainted his career, as everyone else did who did so, by his defense of President Scumbag. In the end, he compiled a voting record that was at odds with what a majority of his voting constituents wanted, so he was sent home. That should be the issue wrt Max Cleland. We aren't going to get a lot of traction picking over his war record.
Since this is my first mention of Cleland, that is an interesting bit of knowledge. But here are some other threads I've started, for your edification:
Bush met military obligation [Bush Was At Alabama Base, Says Ex-Guardsman ]
Right on! And no shame means DemocRAT.
Evidently national security is not something of great import to democrats, even after 9/11.
What a pity.
Sure, first would you please identify the where the "front", FLOT or FEBA was located for combat operations in Vietnam during the year Cleland was in Vietnam.
Second, would you provide a chronology of actions that occurred in Vietnam during that year that the 1st Cav, and specifically Cleland, did not participate.
Third, could you explain which of the eight days between 1-8 April, 1968, Cleland was "at the front" and which ones he was not.
FONDA, JANE
ATLANTA, GA 30303
ACTRESS
| CLELAND, JOSEPH MAXWELL VIA FRIENDS OF MAX CLELAND FOR THE US SENATE INC |
|||
| 08/12/1998 | 500.00 | 99020022593 | |
| 08/05/1999 | 200.00 | 20020030938 | |
FONDA, JANE
,
ACTRESS
| CLELAND, JOSEPH MAXWELL VIA FRIENDS OF MAX CLELAND FOR THE US SENATE INC |
|||
| 06/18/2001 | 300.00 | 22020020708 | |
| 06/18/2001 | 1000.00 | 22020020709 | |
| CLINTON, HILLARY RODHAM VIA HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON FOR US SENATE COMMITTEE INC |
|||
| 08/23/2000 | 1000.00 | 20020272318 | |
| 08/23/2000 | 1000.00 | 20020272318 | |
| CLELAND, JOSEPH MAXWELL VIA FRIENDS OF MAX CLELAND FOR THE US SENATE INC |
|||
| 06/18/2001 | 300.00 | 21020131616 | |
| 06/18/2001 | 1000.00 | 21020131616 | |
| DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE | |||
| 06/18/2001 | 3700.00 | 21020090269 | |
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