By the time he had reached middle age, Max Cleland thought he had nothing to live for. A grenade explosion in Vietnam had left him a triple amputee. He had lost his seat in the U.S. Senate, and in the grip of depression he had lost his fiancée, too. But instead of giving up, Cleland reaches deep into his soul and discovers that he has what it takes to survive: the heart of a patriot. Born and raised in Georgia, Max comes back from Vietnam missing three limbs and is confined for months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Doctors don't give him much hope of living an active life, but through the bonds he forms with other wounded soldiers, and through his own Southern grit, he learns how to be mobile and overcome his despair. He returns home, where he pursues his passion for public service by becoming the first Vietnam veteran to serve in the Georgia state senate.
