ATLANTA — Former U.S. senator and Georgia native Max Cleland has died. He was 79.
It is almost impossible to communicate how large of a public figure Cleland was in both Atlanta and the state of Georgia.
For more than 30 years, his name recognition was on par with such notable Georgia figures as Dale Murphy, Mayor Andrew Young, Mayor Maynard Jackson, Coach Vince Dooley, Sen. Johnny Isakson, and Gov. Zell Miller.
Seeing him at an Atlanta Braves game was seeing an A-list celebrity, with people shouting, staring, and going out of their way to say hello.
Joseph Maxwell Cleland grew up in Lithonia, enrolled at Emory University, and joined the U.S. Army. He fought in Vietnam in the late 1960s. Cleland served in the 1st Cavalry Division at Khe Sanh on April 1968, which is when his military service would end.
It was while jumping off a helicopter, Cleland spotted a hand grenade. Another soldier had dropped it and Cleland reached for it, not knowing it was live. At that moment, both legs, his right arm, and almost his life were gone.
After a long and harrowing recovery at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Cleland went home to his parent's house in Georgia in a wheelchair to figure out how he would find purpose in life.
After being awarded the Silver Star, his purpose was clear: public service.
Two years after the grenade almost took his life, Cleland became the youngest member of the Georgia Senate in 1970. From there, his political career took off.
President Jimmy Carter later appointed Cleland to head the Veterans Administration. At 35, he was the youngest person to hold the job and the first Vietnam veteran to do so. He would later continue his work in public service, becoming Georgia Secretary of State in 1982 and later a U.S. Senator from 1996 to 2002.
In November 1996, He defeated Guy Millner by a razor-thin margin; the last time a Democrat from Georgia was elected to a full, six-year term in the U.S. Senate until 2020.
Six years later, Sen. Cleland was defeated in a bruising battle with Saxby Chambliss for the U.S. Senate.
“I went down into almost a death spiral,” Cleland said a few years ago, looking back at the campaign. “I didn’t try to commit suicide, but I didn’t want to live.”
The Chambliss campaign had questioned Cleland’s courage to lead in a campaign ad that ran pictures of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.
Cleland was eventually diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome, a remnant of his service in Vietnam nearly 40 years ago, triggered by losing his Senate seat.
He would later write about it in his memoir "Heart of a Patriot."
“Depression is real,” he said.
However, he continued to serve, in whatever capacity he was able to.
President Barack Obama appointed Cleland as secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission, a federal agency in charge of battlefields and cemeteries.
Cleland also offered support to Stacy Abrams during her 2018 run for Georgia governor.
He faded from the public eye as his health continued to decline. However, Cleland was able to celebrate his 79th birthday on August 23.
Last December, heart surgery exacted a physical and mental toll on him.
Cleland was known for being ebullient and available to everyone, including reporters.
He lived a great American life, one of meaning in our state -- and he earned it.