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Born on the Fourth of July

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Born on the Fourth of July (ISBN 1888451785) is the best selling autobiography of Ron Kovic, a paralyzed Vietnam War veteran who became an anti-war activist. Taking its title from Kovic's actual birthday, July 4th 1946, the book was adapted into a 1989 Academy Award winning film by Oliver Stone and Ron Kovic, starring Tom Cruise as Ron Kovic. Oliver Stone wanted to film it in Vietnam, but due to the fact that relations were not normalized with Vietnam, it was filmed in the Philippines.

Contents

Origin

Born on the Fourth of July was written in Santa Monica, California during the fall of 1974 in exactly one month, three weeks and two days.[Born on the Fourth of July: The Long Journey Home] Ron Kovic - accessed on 8 August, 2005 It tells the story of Kovic's life growing up in Massapequa, New York, joining the Marines going to Vietnam, getting shot, finding himself wheelchair bound, and eventually starting a new life as an anti-war activist.

"I wrote all night long, seven days a week, single space, no paragraphs, front and back of the pages, pounding the keys so hard the tips of my fingers would hurt. I couldn't stop writing, and I remember feeling more alive than I had ever felt. Convinced that I was destined to die young, I struggled to leave something of meaning behind, to rise above the darkness and despair. I wanted people to understand. I wanted to share with them as nakedly and openly and intimately as possible what I had gone through, what I had endured. I wanted them to know what it really meant to be in a war -- to be shot and wounded, to be fighting for my life on the intensive care ward -- not the myth we had grown up believing. I wanted people to know about the hospitals and the enema room, about why I had become opposed to the war, why I had grown more and more committed to peace and nonviolence." — Ron Kovic, on writing his autobiography.
Tom Paxton wrote a song based on the book.

Film adaptation

In 1989 a film adaptation of the book was released. Oliver Stone wrote the screenplay, produced and directed the film.

Cast

Plot synopsis

The film opens when Ron Kovic is a young boy living in Massapequa, Long Island. He grows up in a patriotic and Catholic household, instilling within him a strong sense of pride in the USA and his religion. As a high school teenager he wrestles for his high school and is an exceptional student. When a Marine recruiting sergeant visits his school and gives Ron and his fellow Seniors an impassioned lecture about the Corps, Ron decides to enlist. He misses his own prom, mainly because he's unable to ask his love interest, Donna. He confronts her at the dance, kisses her, then says goodbye.

The film then moves to Kovic's second tour in Vietnam. On patrol, his unit massacres a village of Vietnamese citizens, believing they are hiding rifles for the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). During the retreat, Kovic becomes disoriented and confused and accidentally shoots one of the new arrivals to his platoon, a younger private named Wilson. Overwhelmed by guilt, he appeals to his commanding officer (CO) who tells him to forget the incident. The meeting has an obviously negative effect on Ron who is crushed at being brushed off by his CO.

The platoon goes out on another hazardous patrol. During a terrible firefight Kovic is critically wounded and trapped in a field for what seems like several hours. Paralyzed from the mid-chest down, he spends several months recovering at the Bronx Veterans Administration hospital. The living conditions in the hospital are horrific; rats crawl freely on the floors, the staff is generally apathetic to their patient's needs, doctors visit infrequently, drug use is rampant and equipment is too old to be useful. He desperately tries to walk again with the use of crutches and braces despite warnings from his doctors. He has a nasty fall that causes a compound fracture of his thighbone. The injury nearly robs him of his leg and he fights with the doctors who want to amputate.

Ron returns home, permanently in a wheelchair, with his leg intact. At home he begins to alienate his family and friends, complaining about students staging anti-war rallies across the country and burning the American flag. Though he tries to maintain his dignity as a Marine, Ron gradually begins to become disillusioned, feeling that his government has betrayed him and his fellow Vietnam Veterans.

In Ron's absence his younger brother, Tommy, has already become staunchly anti-war, leading to a rift between them and Ron's parents seem unable to deal with Ron's new attitude as a paralyzed veteran. Ron's problems are as much psychological as physical and he quickly becomes alcoholic and belligerent. During a parade on July 4th, he shows signs of post-traumatic stress when firecrackers explode (sounding like gunfire) and when a baby in the crowd starts crying (which reminds him of the massacre of the Vietnamese village). He reunites with a high-school friend, Timmy, also a wounded veteran, and the two spend Ron's birthday sharing war stories.

Ron visits Donna at her college in Syracuse. The two reminisce and she asks him to attend a vigil for the Kent State shootings. Ron doesn't; his chair prevents him from getting very far on campus because of curbs and stairways.

Ron's disillusionment grows severe enough that he has an intense fight with his mother after returning home from "Arthurs" bar drunk one night. Ron travels to a small town in Mexico ("The Village of the Sun") that seems to be a haven for paralyzed Vietnam veterans. He has his first sexual experience with a prostitute he believes he's in love with. Ron wants to ask her to marry him but he sees her with another customer and decides against it. Hooking up with another wheelchair-bound veteran, Charlie (who is furious over a prostitute laughing at his lack of sexual function due to his severe wounding in Vietnam, the two travel to what they believe will be a friendlier village. They're kicked out of their taxi for annoying the driver and are stranded on the side of the road. They quarrel and fight, knocking each other out of their wheelchairs. They're picked up by a man with a truck and eventually driven back to the "Village of the Sun".

On his way back to Long Island, Ron makes a side trek to Georgia to visit the parents and family of the marine he killed during his tour. He tells them the real story about how their son died and confesses his guilt to them. While the man's wife is less empathetic, the parents explain they can't fully forgive him but God can. The confession seems to lift a heavy weight from Ron's conscience.

He joins Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) and travels to the 1972 Republican National Convention in Miami. He and his compatriots force their way into the convention hall during Richard Nixon's acceptance speech and cause a commotion that makes it onto the national news. Ron himself tells a reporter about his negative experiences in Vietnam and the VA hospital conditions. His interview is cut short when guards eject him and his fellow vets from the hall and attempt to turn them over to the police. They manage to break free from the police, regroup, and charge the hall again, though not so successfully this time.

The film ends with Kovic speaking at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, shortly after the publication of his autobiography.

Themes

The most prominent theme of the film centers on the physical and mental anguish Kovic suffers. He is robbed of his ability to walk, a particularly vicious wound since he was an athlete in high school. He is also unable to have "normal sex" due to his paralysis.

The mental stress that Ron experiences, specifically post-traumatic stress disorder, are common to nearly all Vietnam veterans. Along with his guilt over shooting his fellow marine, he must also come to terms with combat situations that required him to kill not only North Vietnamese Soldiers but also innocent civilians. As we see during the July 4th birthday celebration the town veterans association holds for him, he can't shake the reminders of combat, like the crying infant or fireworks that sound like gunfire or hand grenades. It also shows the pain he endures from the American government for not listening to the problems of the hospitals.

Awards

References

External links


Films by Oliver Stone
Feature Films
Seizure | The Hand | Salvador | Platoon | Wall Street | Talk Radio | Born on the Fourth of July | The Doors | JFK | Heaven & Earth | Natural Born Killers | Nixon | U-Turn | Any Given Sunday | Alexander | World Trade Center | Son of the Morning Star
Documentaries
Comandante | Looking For Fidel

 

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