Film shows Cleland’s cause Disabled vet says Iraq war a tragic error

By DAVID HO

NEW YORK - Max Cleland never wanted to come full circle.

But for the Vietnam veteran and former U.S. senator
from Georgia, his recent visits to see American
soldiers wounded in Iraq have the feel of history
repeating itself.

"This is Vietnam revisited in every way," Cleland, who
lost two legs and an arm in a 1968 grenade explosion,
said in an interview Wednesday. "I thought I’d never
see it again in my lifetime. I thought we’d learned
some basic lessons."

Cleland visits troops at Walter Reed Army Medical
Center in Washington, the same place where he healed
more than three decades ago. He calls the soldiers "the
young Max Clelands."

His interactions with them and the families of those
killed form the core of the new documentary film,
"Strong at the Broken Places."

His story of war, devastating injury, recovery and a
life in politics is woven throughout the nearly
hourlong film.

"The human loss of this misguided policy in Iraq is
excruciating," said Cleland, who is campaigning for
Democratic presidential candidate and fellow Vietnam
veteran Sen. John Kerry. "It’s the untold message of
war, and one of the reasons I wanted to be involved in
telling it was to make sure that people understand the
costs involved."

The filmmakers are negotiating with cable networks to
broadcast the documentary. Richard Mahoney, the film’s
producer and director and a former Arizona secretary of
state, said he began filming in May 2003. In October,
he approached Cleland, whose visits to Walter Reed and
life experience transformed the documentary.

"He’s a bridge between Vietnam and Iraq," Mahoney said.
"The bridge between getting blown apart and putting
your life back together in a totally new way because
you’ve got to."

The film paints a parallel between wars past and
present during Cleland’s conversations with Pvt. Alan
Lewis, 24. Lewis’ Humvee hit an antitank mine in Iraq
on July 16, 2003. He lost his legs.

Cleland and Lewis talk in the film as they sit across
from each other, the old soldier in his wheelchair and
the young one stretching out new prosthetic legs.

Cleland also visits the family of Spc. Jamaal Addison,
the first soldier from Georgia killed in Iraq.

"I’m hoping that this film sheds light on the fact that
there were a lot of assumptions and misconceptions
regarding the war that led us into this hell," said
Addison’s father, Kevin, a postal employee from
Decatur. "It’s gotten worse over time, and there’s no
sign of it getting better."
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