Born on the 4th of July, Ron Kovic's view

Paper 2

Ron Kovic grew up in America believing that he could become anything. His natural abilities could have led him anywhere in life. Even with many options, when it came down to deciding his near future after high school, he decided to join the Marines. He makes this decision in a valiant effort to serve America with honor and loyalty as a hero, a patriotic profession he had discovered while growing up. Unfortunately, his romantic view of soldiers and war clouded the harsh reality of battle. When he returned home from Vietnam he was left with a rude awakening of what could and did happen to him while in combat. Ron Kovic did not support the war when he returned because his outcome after Vietnam did not meet the standards of war he had formulated while growing up.

Kovic spent 18 years of his life developing a romantic view of war.

Rizières inondées à la frontière entre le Viet...

Ron Kovic

Ron Kovic

His imagination and passion, while growing up, led him to believe that war would create heroes that either died on the battle field or saved their dying brothers, all while defending our country. He grew to believe that a war in the future would follow the same path it did in the movies he watched as a child. Thee movies, pamphlets and guidebooks were all young Ron Kovic had to teach him about combat. It was then, in his young life, that he developed an ideal of what it was to be a soldier and also what it would be like to fight in a war.

Kovic took this ideal of war and not only began to internalize it, but also simulated it. He would get together with friends and reenact, with his toys, movies he had scene. He would even recreate scenes as if him and his...