SOUTH BEND — Former Indiana Governor Joe Kernan is struggling with health issues.
According to Tina Noel, who was Kernan's press secretary, the former governor and three-term Mayor of South Bend, can no longer speak due to Alzheimer's disease and is living in a care facility.
Kernan is 74. He was lieutenant governor under Frank O'Bannon then became governor when O'Bannon died in office in 2003. In 2004, Kernan sought a full-term in office, but lost to Mitch Daniels. In all, Kernan was governor for 16-months.
Kernan was in the Navy during the Vietnam War and was shot down over North Vietnam. He spent 11-months in a POW camp.
