Ron,
Your comments hit the nail on the head.  I was in both wars in Iraq. 
Its hard to beleive that so many people bite into all the bullshit the politicians feed them.  2,800 dead and counting. Thousnads more wounded.  I don’t know how much longer we as a nation can keep the pace.   
Four days after you were wounded, a young Navajo medic in the 101st Airborne survived an NVA ambush in the A Shau.  He’s my dad.  We talk about whats going on and its easy to tie n all the similarities of Iraq and Vietnam.  Way too easy. 
Take care Ron.

Marc Hillis

Their vision, your blood. Some bargain. Thank you, Ron.

So long as society holds to views voiced on this blog, we will invite our enemies to attack us.  We were viewed by UBL as weak, indecisive and unwilling to defend ourselves in his comments to his cohorts, which is what inspired him to 9/11.

The condescending nature of these posts decrying war is so incredibly self-righteous, it defies rational thought, much less history.

To: Sleeper,thank you. There’s more I could add within this topic,and I am hopeful more people like yourself and the ones that post their messages here,continue to network,with like-minded people that truly understand whats taking place in our nation today- and begin the task of challenging that “governing-ruling-class” thats really what I call the “corporatocracy” at work.And its that corporatocracy that must be dealt with.Norm Ezzie Cleveland,Ohio. http://www.storminnorm.com (we’re just a click away)

I have been watching this web site for quite awhile now. I am a Viet Nam veteran and lost many friends over the years to that war. They continue to fall to cancer and alcoholism. My own brother suffers now and I wonder when my turn will come.
I have a young son in the Marines and pray for him every day.
Our greedy politicians have devoured our country. They go in to office poor and come out wealthy. The same old retoric. We talk stuff and complain but do nothing.
The world is a mess and every nut is in office somewhere.
My suggestion is to run for office and try and change things. Our country is spoiled and our people have no desire to come out of their comfort zone to get involved. Our TV, grocery stores and convenient life has mad us slaves to the current situation.
I have heard it all but in the mean time-take time out of your busy schedule to comfort a miltary person and a military family. Give them comfort and support. Write your local newspaper about your concerns and write a nice letter to miltary persons and their family.
We not overcome the current problems but we should continue to work within our democracy.
Many, many people suffer around the world from cruel dictators, famine and health issues.
Never forget our fallen heroes who thought and believed in AMERICA! They died very young with a dream for their families…
GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY AND OUR FREEDOM!!!
SEMPER FI!

Tom, I am waiting.
B. E. please get some books and inform yourself.
I sincerely hope you son comes home and is well.

Norm,

Your message:

#32991 by Norm Ezzie on 10/24 at 9:50 am

is right on the mark.

My last post was on 10/23/2006.  We must admit how mis treated our wounded have been in the past in order to change the way they are treated today otherwise we will be flooded with the rhetoric of some medical advances which have occured. 

Advances are good, but these wounded as the wounded from previous conflict or wars have been forgotten as soon as the VA can forget them.  They represent costs and costs are meant to be cut in the minds of any manager.

For me 10/23/1983 will be a date that I will remember very clearly for the rest of my life.  I woke up to incoming helocopters filled with wounded.  We unloaded and reloaded them from 0700 to 1830 that night.  I remember looking for friends hoping to see them amongst the wounded because if they were not there then they were dead.  241 died that day.

I have sought help and been denied.  I don’t trust to many groups or VA gatekeepers.  Maybe it was because we only had 2000 troops on shore at any given time instead of a hundred plus thousand.  I don’t know.  Any scars that I have are mental and I am stubborn enough to live for a long time.  Others are not.  Should I not express my outrage and sit quietly while The War mongers mistreat this new batch of Vets.  I think not.  I will not feel that same helplessness without making my voice be heard.  We need to support our vets and bring them home NOW, ALIVE.

My son is in the Army.  He just got out of boot camp.  I don’t want him to go to Iraq in order to help the wealthy stuff their pockets with Blood money.  Let them send their own kids.  I don’t think they have the stomache for it.

My father served in World War II. He was wounded, but superceding his physical wounds was the psychological wounds he suffered. Ultimately he was discharged with a “Section 8”. The U.S. Army declared him to be mentally ill. And World War II was a totally justified reason for the U.S. to get involved!

Fast forward to the “Vietnam War”. A travesty—almost 58,000 American troops murdered for absolutely no reason. Most politicans and citizens vowed this would never happen again.

Now we are engaged in the “Iraqi War”. What in God’s name is the justification for this excursion and excuse for genocide? It is imperative that we withdraw immediately and put an end to the useless killing—not only of our troops, but the innocent Iraqi citizens (babies, children, older citizens, pregnant women, etc.).

For the love of God, what are we doing there? What are we trying to accomplish? Is this not an agenda that serves G.W.‘s ego? Would not almost all of us Americans citizens rally to protect our country if we were invaded by a foreign power? If that happened,I would venture a guess that we’d all be called “insurgents”.

I’m disgusted by what passes as the government of the United States of America these days. We no longer have a Constitution. . . G.W. Bush has made sure it is no longer applicable in the land of “Mission Accomplished / Stay The Course” bull crap!

To 32924 (cynic)
I hope that it’s ignorance and not a mission to provoke anger in people to insinuate that this article was written to discourage young men and women from doing their patriotic duty by serving their country.
This article and others like it are printed to give people like you a wake up call. To give this whole country a wake up call. The problem isn’t the soldier, it’s the spoiled child running the country who has discarded toy soldier after toy soldier in his game of war without any remorse.

Thank you for opening the eyes of people to the tragic results of any violence that need not happen. Your thoughts are so well written, I will send them to my family and I will read them again and again. I believe we each have a job to do in this life, and after we do that we will leave these fragile physical bodies and have a different life. Some may have a day or some 104 years, but we will have done our work here in this world. I hope that I may meet and speak with you someday. Sandy Swain

I am aware of the past soldiers as well as the new soldiers that are forgotten.
I am a veteran of the first Iraq conflict “Desert Storm”. I was never physically injured during the time I was there but I could’ve been killed in several events of combat.
Upon my return to the U.S. I feel like I was tossed aside to be forgotten.  No support for my family, my medical conditions, my life after the military.
There are Third World Countries that treat the veterans better than the U.S.
I am not suprised by this article in the least bit.

The real tragedy of every war ever fought by America is the way we treat our returning soldiers,wounded or not.The scars of every battle are many,some remain hidden for years-others are there for the whole world to see.America’s dirty little secret really is “profit over people”—-Those mighty multi-national-corporations that never die,they simply merge!And in todays global landscape,nothing changes for them except their quarterly profit-statements.I dare say,would we be in Iraq if they did not have the 2nd largest Oil reserve,next to Saudi-Arabia? The men and women that serve our nation today cannot question their command,however-We,The People can,and must! Its simply the right thing to do in todays world-Norm Ezzie,Cleveland.Ohio http://www.storminnorm.com “its all there,every damn bit of it”

The saddest thing about these brave wounded soldiers is that their trouble is just beginning. They are changed forever, and so are the lives of their loved ones, who will be dealing with them for the rest of their lives.

I worked at a school that helped rehabilitate wounded Vietnam vets. Although these survivors gave it their best shot, too many had a death wish buried somewhere deep inside them. Many were like zombies, just going through the motions required to get through job training, or getting their college classes out of the way so they could support themselves and their families and feel “normal” again.

Just like those soldiers, today’s vets will have a lot to keep buried, yet their huge and ugly fears and memories will eventually need to be aired out, cleaned up, so they can go forward. Who’s out there to help them through this? Not many! Where is the support they will need to go on with their lives? It keeps getting cut, the need being swept under the rug.

I urge all Americans to stop this administration from sending more into this morass, and to do all we can to help those returning from war to heal.

We know war is hell.  Peace can be hell too when its people loose perspective.  The making of a nation took us 200 years and we want the Iraqis to behave themselves in 6 months after the formation of their constitution?

Look, we need Iraq to control Iran. WE HAVE NO ability to infiltrate Iran and protect us from suitcase nukes. That’s the threat that everyone ignores.  And it’s a threat that can only be dealt with through intelligence, not more nukes.

If for no other reason than intelligence on a world wide terrorist network we knew absolutely nothing about, our occupation of Iraq was worth it. The idea that we would allow SH to put at the disposal of Al Qaeda that mass weapons depot he called a country is insane.  But everyone wants to ignore that and babble about WMDs, casualties and wardead that is absolutely dwarfed by previous wars.

Oh, BTW, my son is over there now in case you have any questions.

Brian

Of course the government will not help injured soldiers, after all, there is no money in such action.
Invading Iraq, and stealing oil, that is where there is money, except that the fools in the white house forgot about the brave and noble Iraqui people.
As long as young men offer their lives to politicians, offer to bear arms as soldiers, then politicians will use that willingness for their own ends.
As long as there are soldiers there will be wars. If you don`t want injured soldiers, don`t go to foreign lands, bearing arms.
Thankyou mr Kovic, for writing, it would have been easy for you to ignore the past, instead you inspire others not to make foolish mistakes. One hopes that less young men will in future take up arms.

Many of us wonder and worry about our wounded solders—but do we hear about them in mainstream media? From getting ripped off by non-military life insurance predators, military promises of education or training, or lack of proper weaponry or numbers of troops, these folks now have to worry about what is going to happen after they leave the hospital.  Where is the flag then?  I guess the citizens should be what it stands for, but most of us don’t want to know that all the yellow ribbon magnets on all the bummpers of our cars mean nothing if we don’t really support our wounded troops with votes for those who will support legislation to improve the way they will live their lives.  They deserve no less.

Yeah, “Skip” about that. You should trying getting news from sources other than Fox News and MSNBC…they tend to be a little biased. I guess the government has been able to successful brain wash a large portion of our population, as Skip has so finely pointed. Unfortunately, its the American peoples fault, not the government. Maybe instead of investing hundreds billions of dollars into occupying Iraq (which is exactly what we are doing), we could spend all that money on education. That way we don’t have a bunch of little “Skip’s” running around, fortunately I still have faith in Darwins theory.

Every time I read and article like this one or watch a TV show about the wars in the middle east I get an nauseating feeling about the BRAVE SOULS over there defending our way of life here in the US.  Our political leaders should be ashamed of themselves for not protecting our YOUND AND BRAVE!!This administration should be quite ashamed of themselves for doing so, in fact the lucky ones have DIED b/c the ones who have been injured come back to the states not remotely able to live the life they had before!!!  I pray for all those who have gone over there and keep us selfish ones over heard PROTECTED!!  BLESS YOU ALL AND A THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

Mr Haggerty is correct in noting the inexorable shift of the Dig below from the core of Mr Kovic’s article to other issues.

I would simply ask on what basis does he disagree with Mr Kovic?  I would be interested in seeing the statistical and empirical data that proves his point.

Otherwise it is just an opinion without substance.

As an anti-war activist, I feel at a loss of how to be supportive to the wounded veterans returning home.  I’m afraid they may believe that I don’t appreciate their sacrifice or honor their service.  I’m sure our politics might be very different.  Are there opportunities beyond writing checks for us “liberals” to be of service?

Patricia

Mr. Kovic,

I just have to ask you, Sir, if you know Jim Roberts.  He was born on the fourth of July, wounded in action (yes, Vietnam), paralized from the waist down. Colonal in the airforce. He was from the New Orleans area and now lives in Montana. He is my neighbor. He says that the movie was written about him….

Please do not post this. I just want you to answer me. 
Thank you.

Sincerely, L Penning

Shame on You. I guess I’m moor American then most of You. I’m good Christian and I think my duty is to protect lives of our children. Looks like You don’t mind that your child will spick or serve some sheik in near future if he or she survive another terror attack on our soil. You still wont us to leave Iraq? OK. They will move here. All they need to add few moor. You know what? I lived with Muslims and I know all about them. It’s very easy for me to change my views on civilization, but what about You????                Pat Tillman is My hero.

OK, Tom, I will bite. Are you a wounded veteran? Are you a doctor or nurse at a veteran´s hospital? Do you have family who are one or all of the above? Can you explain away rats and roaches in a hospital? Can you explain the vets living in the streets? living on the edge of starvation,there were two who lived under a bridge on the canal when I worked at Houston Grand Opera, and even now, this many years after the war? How about the piece I saw in the Times Picayune from New Orleans about the veteran of the wars in the Middle East butchering his girlfriend. I remember a lot of that during the last extremely violent years of Vietnam, and the years afterwards. So, tell us how you know more on this subject that Ron.

Get back on point people!

The article is about “Our government” leaving the current wounded veterans without the support they need.
Has the “US Government” failed to meet the ongoing needs of wounded American Servicemen? Yes or No?

Mr. Kovic has crafted his article around the later.
I disagree.

Irag is somewhat similiar to Vietnam (I was there) in that the United States is a Super Power and shouldn’t be fighting third world powers for 10 years (Vietnam) or Iraq with troops, our young people and life blood. We could have won the Vietnam war in three days if we would have bombed the North instead of the South. We lost over 50,000.

If we are threatened and have to go to war we should use our technology that we have spent hundreds of billions on instead of our our young people as weapons of war. In Iraq, we could have bombed Saddam without warning as Reagan did with Libya. Bombed his military, airports, palaces and enough infastructure to get his attention. If he lived through it he would have got the message.

Instead, we announce we are coming for months, as we build up on his border, threaten devastation, name the battle “Shock & Awe” as some video game. What arrogance.

A Superpower should not be getting kicked in the knees constantly by third world dictators. If they threaten us, our security and people. They should be taken out without warning. That will make us safer and more secure. And our 2500 plus troops would still be alive along with over 30,000 safe without wounds in Iraq.

All these high tech weapons and we send in our troops - no respect for life. I guess President Bush hasn’t read that he is in charge of a Superpower? Iran has been attacking us for decades and killing Americans, yet we do nothing. They have nothing to fear from impotent American Presidents and members of Congress.So we live in fear, fear in travel, fear in our cities, schools, malls and homes. A great way to live and a great future for our children?

Democrats and Republicans - a sad state of affairs. Defend the United States of America, not your political parties, or get out!

Wow, there has been quite a bit of chatter lately.  The bean counters always want to forget our wounded because it is cheaper to let them die.  Is it right?  HEll NO!!! It is what they do and frankly they don’t care. 

They are too concerned about how they can defraud the taxpayer on this easy War money to consider allowing it to be spent on the wounded. 

The people in power in our government are the worst sleaze balls in the world.  They are the greediest and they are the most arrogant criminals that have ever ruled this country.  Many should be charged with Treason but that will never happen because they have no belief in that line in the Declaration of Independence that declares that all men are created equal amonst other things.

Skip, we were no more attacked by Iraqes that we were attacked by Vietnamese. The attackers, if indeed we have the truth of who they were, were Saudis and Egyptians. Or maybe you were not aware of the geography of the Middle East?

There aren’t words for the feelings people have when they read your work. For some reason, GUILT, is the first that comes to my mind. We should all feel it. When we’re watching the news, when we’re at the parades, when we listen to our government with news of sending even MORE troops to these god forsaken wars. We all feel bad, but very few are doing anything. I help in my own small way. I make quilts for our local quilting group, who take them to a local vet hospital. Its not a lot, but it’s what I do. I’m not sure if there was a point to this, but I did want to respond to the ignorant republican’s comment before mine. I thought we all understood this by now, but here goes:
The attack on our country on September 11, was made by terrorists. They weren’t from Iraq and they shouldn’t be considered Muslims. They are an extremists group, that acted on their own. We supposedly sent troops after them and can’t seem to find them. Now instead of focusing on that specific group, our President chose to send troops into Iraq to invade thier country. It was Iran and North Korea threatening to use weapons of mass destruction on us, not Iraq.
I am sorry, I just don’t seem to understand?
I am as patriotic as they come. My husband served in Saudi Arabia three years ago while our daughter was born, and is currently in South Korea. I understand Patriotism, I live it. I support my husband and his military family. All of us wives do; we’re here waiting for them when they come back home in whatever shape they come back in, just praying that they come back.
I choose not to support the butchers who continue to send our husbands and sons to their deaths.
I choose not to support a President that lies to the families of dead loved ones to cover his own ass.
I choose not to support the war, because I have all my facts and know that it is wrong.
God Bless our SOLDIERS.

Dear number 32588,
  I don’t really see how you can get off not comparing Iraq to Vietnam.  You say they they are two totally different situations because with this current war we were attacked on our own soil. 

Well, since I just got back from Iraq only months ago, I feel it is my duty to tell you, since our current administration isn’t pushing to tell anybody, they this current war has nothing to do with the terrorist attacks of September 11.  You say you are a republican but it is awfully funny that you must not follow the news much.  As I recall, about a year or so ago, while I was in Iraq, the Bush administration formally came out stating there were no “WMD’s” in Iraq and there was no connection between the Hussein regime and the Taliban. 

So please tell me how this war has to do with the terrorist attacks. 

When I was in Iraq, one thing I noticed which is never mentioned and people in the states don’t want to admit it, is that the people fighting this war against us are the Iraqi’s themselves.  Theyre not terrorists from a different country for the most part.  They are the people they give us intel in the day.  They smile to us and wave as we patrol.  And theyre the same ones that set in IED’s and ambush us in the night.  It is not because they’re terrorists.  It is because they do not want us there and meddling in their problems.

So please, if you don’t believe me, and since you are a supporter of the war, go and make the sacrifice and volunteer for a tour.  You’ll see the same thing.  I supported the war and Bush before I went as well.

I respect you and your sacrifice, I have read your book and seen the movie. However, the current situation and the situation then are completely different. WE WERE ATTACKED ON OUR OWN SOIL. You cannot negotiate with terrorists. There does need to be some changes made in how we are handling the war, but let it be told that we have to take the fight to them, we can’t sit back and wait to be attacked again. I am a Republican and find alot of content on this site, a little to the left, but it’s not about being Democrat or Republican its about being an American. Was there dissent during WW II? No, everyone pitched in and we defeated two major world powers. With this much dissent at home, it can only hurt our efforts. If people would put the energy into helping out and not whining about Bush, maybe just maybe we can win this and bring the boys home.

Go figure..

Ron, I had asked about our children as collateral damage as a cost of war and was told that I sounded extreme, also that I seemed to blame the soldier for his problems. Here is my reply…..
John. if I sound upset, it is because I am. I had a neighbor in Houston during the most violent years of Vietnam who was doing a residency in psychiatry at the vetran¨s hospital…...after having practiced general medicine in a small town for 13 years….I tell you this to tell you this was no 25 year old, but a mature man who had seen almost every the human race could throw..he thought. He came by my house in the afternoon after work and I served as the psychiatrist´s psychiatrist by listening to his fears of what he was encountering. He was terrified because he was getting the young boys, not a few, lots, whose officers and fellow soldiers were afraid of…these were the ones who got sent home early, but he also knew that as we were sending hundreds of thousands of boys over there who were not being sent home early to his hospital but were still the victims of what they were expected to do….and the extremes of what was actually done that we are only very late finding out.I am aware it is an uncomfortable subject, but it is still a cost of war and we need to take it into account…..not to blame the soldier…..we do enough of blame the victim in our society….but to recognize this cost both for the soldiers returning and make sure they receive the care and counseling needed as well as other types of medical care our wonderful corpgov has seen fit to cut, BUT ALSO THE COST TO THEIR FAMILIES WHO HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF SOMEONE WHO IS OFTEN A STRANGER WITH DEMONS NOT UNDERSTOOD BY THOSE OF US WHO DID NOT EXPERIENCE THE HORROR. IF WE SEND OUR CHILDREN INTO SITUATIONS WHERE NOT ONLY THEIR BODIES ARE IN DANGER BUT THEIR MINDS AND VERY SOUL THEN WE NEED TO TAKE HEED AND BE PREPARED TO DEAL WITH THE AFTERMATH…...WHATEVER THE COST.
IF THAT IS EXTREME…..DEAL WITH IT.
why are we doing this again?????????????

Thank you, Ron. I think of you now and then, admiring your fortitude and grateful for your honesty. I wish everyone—especially those unempathetic, misguided tools in power—could feel what you express and take it to heart.
You’ve a powerful voice, thank you for using it.

Hi Ron!

Its been way too mayn years since we wne to Our Lady of Lourdes masses, and played around in high school, etc, and went to the friday night dances. Had we knew what awaited us back then, we would NOT have belived it. I lost track of you until I saw “the movie”, with teras in my eyes my Brother, you brought it ALL HOME, again. My admiration for you has NO BOUNDS Ron, my wounds pall in comparauison to your’sm albeit I did suffer a lot for long time, BUT, somehow, as you wrote, I saw the light in essence, years later. God bles you Ron, and know that you are and always be more larger than life, and it is well deserved my Brother…SEMPER FI!!!!”

Warm regards always…..Marco

hello
ron its me again.
i would like to thankyou for all of your work.
i would like to say that incase you dont understand or if you didnt understand what your soal purpous in life ws to bring people together
with your words and thoughts and experiences.
you have a great purpous of life and i respect a man with so much dignaty and strenght.
im understanding why you were hurt so bad
physicly and emotionaly and how hard it must be for you.what i hurt for you because you was a young man who beleaves in his counrty and you had so many hopes and dreams and a girl who you really love and loved. its sad because you never
got to experence love in that respect and children. that part of your story made me sad and cry for you and many others that have been threw pain like that. but i still think you are a whole person with feelings and a heart to care for all of us the way you do. i just wanted to express my thoughts and feelings with you because your a good guy and youve been threw so much and still have the stength to carry on in a world filled with war and if there is peace someday im sure with your help and everyone of us who beleave in you and our country what a wonderfull world this would be.
im hope to someday personaly meet you and thankyou in person because i really like you and want to be your friend and everyone should like you because you and me and many other people are trying to stop the war in iraq because its dangerous and so many young men and women risk there lives for us but also get killed for it.
president bush really needs to get our men and women out of there because its bullcrap so many women and men are killed everyday just like in vietnam and parents and husbands and wifes get the bad news of death.
the war needs to end…. i have a friend he was a freshmen in hs i was a senior he is missing in action you proubly remeber him in the news his name is Matt Mopin hes been missing for along time and his parents are so sad and they cry when i talk to them about how they need to stop the war so they can get there son home.
but im very sensitive when it comes to my friends
they are like family.
thanks and peace
kimberly from ohio

hi
ron
im kimberly from ohio
i just wanted to say that you are my favorite guy.
im sorry for the bad stuff that happened to you in the war and i really like you as a person your something this country needs, you love america and everyone in it. have you ever thought about being president. you would make a fun and cool one you would sure have my vote.
i respect you as a person and hopefully as a friend thanks for saring your life with me and many other americans who care about you and love you.
i love history and i can really relate to everything you talk about even though im only 26 yrs old i still respect all of you work.

thank you
peace my friend.

16/10/2006 02:20 a.m.

The comment below, taken from TRUTHDIG, a blog created by Ron Kovic, Viet Nam Veterans Against the War, born on the 4th of July, wounded in his second tour of duty on January 20 1968, as Nixon took office exemplifies an aspect of my writing.
I simply cannot tell if accidentally, I submitted it prior to proofreading or if I proofread it and simply DID NOT SEE the many errors. Or if an unseen hand interfered with both my perception and my writing.  I often times go “blind” as it were. Perhaps that stress that has such an elegant definition is still with me. The war did nto end, Ron. We are in somewhat different theaters or focos. Having been thru this type of routine on prior occasions —an application for a social work position in Marin County written under police surveillance attack (eventually read by State Senator Burton and as I understand it, an aide to Senator Boxer)  I am at a loss.
Mentioned by TV KATU during the 5-7Pm news yesterday within the context that Luisa who had my email address and my phone numbers as well as references to Argentina’s Guerra sucia and Montoneros and E.R.P.  so that she could obtain frameworks of reference to my past life, KATU TV on superimposed voice background also stated that police (whether Portland or San Francisco) had gotten to her on the side so as to deny me her friendship. If such did occur, it would be another incident in a long series of police surveillance hidden and side manipulations of the usual variety.

Actually in optical feedback, I had been given the usual “NO” approach while writing my email to her as I said I would do. I will however, for the benefit of those who have access to my APUNTES journal via the illicit manipulation created by (whomever?),
edit the comment and then post it. You can find APUNTES via GOOGLE under Stanchi Nahuel .I am tech support lacking and basically poor at computer and even poorer,  with the passage of years at typing. And my computer needs overhauling, my key board and mouse perhaps replaced. We all have our hidden damages. Remember the black chick with the people’s Republic of Africa colors dancing with you and doing the bump at your art show opening? Or the US ARMY Viet War vet who saw you and told me “no matter what, Ron is still a Marine. You have to understand that.” Or Peter, the West German street people who was a silent bystander as I put your pictures up on the wall, arguing with you that having some of your work on the ceiling was simply too much Kovic’s work given that the walls were saturated with your efforts?

As to the comment “spoke briefly” – Basically, I have taken an alternate path. Had it with the constant bickering, the constant betrayals, the constant hard line positions which result in needless death and destruction.

Robert Frost said to ‘take all things lightly.” I simply can’t. I am a humorless man, still driven by frustrate and exhaustion not created by me but by circumstances and people in opposition due to their own hang ups. I am certain you have met such. Were to be together or communicate in any way, you and I would be at loggerheads over many an issue, and perhaps agreeing on fundamentals as to what needs to be done.

Comment #9982 by Hugo Nahuel on 5/21 at 4:50 am
Mr. Kovic.
In 1984 at the Chelsea Cafe located at California and Polk Streets in San Francisco, CA, you had an open house of your paintings. I hung all your paintings for you serving as your arms and legs.
It was a succesful (sucessful) event: ABCTV KGO was there; Lawrence Ferlingehtti (Ferlinghetti)of CITY LIGHTS was there, etc.
I left for South America via Canada shortyl (shortly)after the event, and lost track of you. Heard that you had ran for Congress ( ?) from Orange County, California at one time.
And suddenly, yesterday, May 20, 2006 at St. Francis Catholic Church in Portand, (Portland) Oregon where i ( I )went to hear two former vets speaks: (speak) One, Dan Tashor, former member of the “Nahal"Regiment—Israeli Army and Joseph Hatcher,, First Infantry Division; USARMY, Hatcher being an active member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. I spioke (spoke) birefly (briefly)and after the talk, provided your name to Hatcher as reference.
He did nto (not) know who you were, so i (I )gave him a brief run down on the little that I knew of you.
So many years have passed and much water has flowed past the bridge of remembrance. You write well. I enjoyed oyu (your) piece.
And although our views differ here and there, I am glad, that somehow, your name surfaced from past decades so I could put it into the hands of another vet, young like you werevia (were via one )opne of my old business cards which still had my San francisco (Francisco) address on it, my new address in Portland, Oregon being written on the back (back) of it.
You look good with the beard
Hugo Nahuel I hope this reachers (reaches)  you becuase I (because I ) do not know what URL to write in there.
Octubre 16 2006 03:00 hours.

I’m grateful to you Mr.Kovic for broadening my awareness of the full colour of war. For the first time in years in the UK there are rumblings of true discontent about conditions facing our armed forces in Afghanistan. I’m think times have changed that our soldiers are supported morally but maybe that support materially is falling short in giving them the best chance of coming home physically intact.

As always my thoughts and prayers go out to all concerned who face unimaginable danger each day. I hope life is treating you well today Ron…regards Dave.

JUST A WELL PAID JOB
OJO 2006

Can’t you feel that you have been acting wrong
dear president I just want to say
we have lost all our confidence in you a long time ago
because the only thing you have done
is to connive what you should be concerned about
and you closed your ears for the small
and poor people out there
because you confounded the weak and
supported the strong
with your false song
dear president

Raise your hand and swear loyalty
to us and our country
listen to the lament and not to the government

You will never be able to understand
what we all need and want in this great land
because your chattering smattering talk has proved
that you are not solid enough to lead us forward
you were not equal to the task you lost early your mask
your lies could not envelop all those who cry
you support those who wants to eradicate the human race
and now we all know your true equanimity
dear president

There is no use for you to try to deny
that your detachment to the destruction of our earth
has made many people believe
that this world is invulnerable against everything
we throw into the rivers the lakes the sea
the air and out in outerspace
it will all return into the food chain
and there is not yet born a human being
that is invincible against what we feel inside
when we get enough poison and lies
your time has come to step back
and let those who know the truth build this country
dear president

Can’t you feel that you have been acting wrong
or do you believe that you are so strong and smart
that we can’t see what you are doing most of the time
when your promises never come true
what do you really want us to do
give you our votes time after time just for fun
can you possibly ever be able to tell us the truth
or do you believe in your own lies
I am just asking
dear president

(http://www.geocities.com/athens/ithaca/2636/Nytt55.htm)

All the best from

Ove a Norwegian poet living in Portugal

Flip flops - Not all bad.
Much has been made of John Kerry’s flip flop on the war in Viet Nam.  The Re-slime-icans portray this as a sign of weakness and cowardice.  Nothing is further from the truth.  More often than not, it is a sign of moral strength and courage with a good outcome.

Why is Bush’s flip flop from wet drunk to dry drunk heralded as such a virtuous achievement, but John Kerry’s flip flop on the futile sacrifice in Viet Nam which saved thousands of lives treated in such a negative fashion?

How many GI’s have been killed by the VC since we came to our national senses and abandoned a failed, disastrous policy?  How many countries has Viet Nam invaded and communized?  How many times has Viet Nam teamed up with their age old enemy, China and embarked on a joint program of military conquest?  How many dollars has the U. S. spent in rebuilding a ravaged Viet Nam which was destroyed by our stupidity? 

All of these excuses were used to wage a 16 year campaign which resulted in the futile waste of 58,000 of our finest, not to mention the trauma of wounds and post traumatic stress.  And it should be remembered that the old China Hands warned Ike that his domino theory was full of holes.

The present chaos in Iraq was also foretold by the old Mideast Hands, but it seems that Re-Slime-ican chicken hawks never get the message.

We should have learned by now that there are no dumb or docile Viet Namese or Iraquis.  They are going to fight to the bitter end for their countries, and they are willing to die for their cause.  They will certainly outlast Joe Blow from Idaho who can’t even name his representatives in Washington, let alone understand the complexities of global politics.

I there anyone in his right mind who doubts that a nation with a rich history of a great civilization could settle their age old differences, and rebuild their country just as the Viet Namese have?

Please make these points with the ditto heads who are so brain washed that they fail to heed Santayana’s awarning about those who fail to heed the lesson of history.

Our troops must be brought home as quickly as possible.  Each day will only bring more casutlties and heartbreak to this country.

I needed to read your article, it snapped me out of feeling sorry for myself.  Your fortitude sets an example that makes me Proud To Be An American.  Thank you, Ron.  You inspire people like me who aren’t Veterans, too.  God Bless.

Dear Ron:

I was born in 1948 and I had classmates to went off to Vietnam too.  They did not come back. I remember sitting in front of the TV watching all the news from that day’s events over there. None of it made sense to me either.  I’m writing now because once again tonight your movie was on cable and I had the strength to sit through it. The kleenex box has to be close to me. I cry because of the horrible loss of life and how it destroys the wonderful young people who go to support their country. They leave full of life and love for their fellow man and return so angry and hardened. I am a retired teacher from the St. Paul schools and am also tired of war. Thank you for making a film of your life…we need to know these things…how can we know otherwise?  God bless and keep you in His care for the rest of your life.  I will pray for you and for the end of this cruel war.  Thanks for your time.

Ron,
Never a day goes by that I don’t forget the sacrifice of our brothers and sisters. When I am in pain or just feeling down I remember people like you and fallen heroes who never had a chance to do what I have done. I continue to press forward…Thanks for your courage and for continuing to “Lead from the front.”

Semper Fi!
Carl

Dear Ron,

Back when we were at PCC and working for peace, post traumatic stress was a term I didn’t really understand yet. Later I married a vet, and learned first-hand how there’s no escaping war’s aftermath, even if your feet never touched a pair of marching boots, much less “enemy” soil. Vietnam tore my marriage apart years after the war ended. I’ve cried buckets of tears for the many beautiful hearts like yours that were thrown onto the fiery forge of war. Today, thousands have or will be returning from our modern man-made hell, and I wonder how many families, and how many communities, are truly prepared to deal with the fallout from this war. Thanks for your willingness to share your stories.

Samantha

All that comes to mind after reading your article and the posts following it is that old sating “Those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are dommed to repeat them”
And we are repeating them, the patriotic zeal promoted by the current administration covers the lies and the horrible truth about how our soldiers are coming home.
Hopefully another Ron Kovic will arise from this hell and maybe just maybe a new generation will listen, and somthing will change.
God Bless you Ron.

Dear Ron, Our daughter just returned from a tour in Bagdad working In Balad air base. Lots of our people are not coming home from the war over there. We got our girl home several weeks ago all in one piece. She may be rotated back there in 30 months. The living conditions are disgusting there for our troops.To our countries credit but little told by the media here is how we treat Iraq people in our hospitals there with mercy and compasion not to far away from troops who are injured and waiting to be sent to Germany. I,as a mom want to know what I can do to help our returning veterans?? Can I volunteer someplace or give time some way. You and I are on the some page about the horrors of war and the devastation that it brings for years. I feel so helpless as a citizen. I must demand that our veterans be treated with dignity, helped in retraining,after they have received the medical care they so deserve. Cut backs on medical care for our returning soldiers and all of our veterans is discusting and irreprehensible. People think when they see a disabled vet on the streets begging for money that it’s okay to look the other way. It is sickening. Please direct me on how I may serve and help. Thank you and may God continue to use your voice.

TO:  bernard arkules

I honor you for admitting you made a bad vote.  I do have one small request.  Please write your home state HOUSE AND SENATE reps.  Demand that “ALL ” our troops are brought home NOW!

I’m a mother of a Special Forces Soldier.  We further have adopted others to support (food,  books, etc.)when they are deployed.

Soldiers are BURNED OUT! Additionally, what is expected of them now is acts of GOD!  The suicide rate is being low balled and the injury rate is lie after lie.  The American public really has NO clue how dilapidated the IED RITZ CARLTON IRAQ is.  Further, many of your well - trained special ops aren’t re-enlisting.  The American public will be left with conditions like after Vietnam War an inexperienced force.
Mother of US Special Forces Soldier
d-green
green
rangers
seals

Mea culpa:I shamefully admit I voted for the Bush.  I thought he would do a better job of defending the USA. I voted for him in spite of the fact that I abhor his anti-abortion stance,  his general ignorance, his ambivalance about evolution, his hamstringing stem cell research, his use of priviledge to shield his ass during the Viet Nam War, his posturing, etc.  I am willing to go along with the assumption that it was reasonable to assume Iraq harbored weapons of mass distruction, and , on that basis, war was justified.  The incompetent management of the war resulting in thousands of deaths , maimed bodies and broken minds is the crime that makes me ashamed of my vote.

Ron,
I saw the film Sir No Sir last week and learned about the anti-war movement within the soldier’s ranks in Vietnam and how the troops were a major factor in ending the war. We must all do our part to bring about peace: soldiers, activists, politicians, clergy, educators, reporters. Collectively, we can stop the war machine.

http://www.operation2012.com

All those yellow ribbon bumper stickers need to be changed to read:

‘WE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, UNTILL THEY GET WOUNDED”

Ron,

I entered a comment earlier.  I did volunteer to enter the Marine Corps in 1982 and although we were at peace at the time I ended up in Beirut.  I learned quite a bit in Beirut. 

I am fortunate not to have any physical wounds although I do have vivid memories that are constantly with me.  I have a great deal of anger concerning the rejection of a claim for PTSD and this war angers me even more.

The volunteers do enlist to defend ideals and they risk all that they have to protect these ideals.  It angers me that this government denies responsibility for placing its troops in harms way.  It angers me that those who beat the war drums the hardest often never served or were AWOL at the position that they did hold yet they send the youth to their death.

Our governments policy of denial isn’t new.  They have a history of waiting while many die because of our governments inaction.  It reduces the costs to our government and leaves more for the profiteers to steal.

I don’t have nightmares about being under fire.  I do have times when my startle reflex is very responsive and times when it is not so severe.  I see the birds coming in and the wounded that we unloaded.  I remember how helpless I felt as I carried strechers from the aircraft to the elevators. I remember searching for a few friends hoping that I found them wounded.  I found a few and a few I have never seen again only in dreams.  I wrote a poem “Frightened Eyes”:

Frightened Eyes

The birds came in
rotors turning,
engines burning.

The ramp came down.
cots were stacked
in the back.

Frightened Eyes
They knew not. Why?
Burnt and bloody
Some were buddies.

Some weren’t there.
they weren’t anywhere.
Back on shore
they were no more.

Frightened Eyes
they knew not. Why?

Shocked and Awed.
Our memories stored.
Remind us each day
of Truth that won’t go away.

Death!!! Fear stays silent in our minds.
Immortal Characters, from within we find.
Anger Rises. Frustration Abounds.
Feel the energy. Except, no rounds.

Frightened Eyes
they know not. Why?

I just watched “Born on the Fourth of July” at home, in my nice warm chair.My God!My tears, and they flowed freely,  were for the many maimed and dead . My 19 year old cousin , Donny,died in Da Nang in 1968.  He was an only son and left a mother,  father and sister to carry the heartache. Are these wars fought so that a 67 year old woman like me can sit in my nice warm chair?  Somebody tell me there is another way.

Please to all who have written a response to Mr. Kovic’s article please also conaidering giving a donation to the Paralyzed Vets and Disabled Vets.  even though you may not need the cards and other nice things they send, just a small donation will help.
I am currently collecting as a volunteer, from my family and friends in the PAV’s current drive.

Ron,

Thanks for you attention to the Forgotten wounded of all military actions since veitnam.  There are many.  The V.A. should reveiw all of its denials since veitnam to see how many of those vets havew committed suicide, died of drug overdoses or other causes that were a result of the main complaint that was denied by the VA. 

I am a vet who was a member of the Peacekeeping Mission in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983.  I filed a claim for PTSD in 1993.  I was denied after a doctor at Togus, VA told me that I was never in Combat because I had never killed anyone.  Another psychiatrist told me that they don’t treat with therapy they only treat with drugs.  I was well over a year clean when I initiated my claim. 

Our vets deserve to be treated better then that.  I will live in spite of my government.  I may or may not give more voice to my anger but I have never felt so betrayed as I did when that doctor said that to me.  I came very close to killing a man who was driving a bus down a runway three days after the bombing. 

Our memorial for those who died on October 23rd, 1983 states “They Came In Peace”.  I wasn’t suppose to kill anyone but I was under fire.  I did handle hundreds of wounded and I did guard a place where body bags were put into containers for their ride home.

Ron Kovic,

Your book “Born on the Fourth of July” was the very first book in regards to the Vietnam war and the veterans, that I read. It took me on a journey that I didn’t realize at the time, would take me into the lives of a number of veteran friends. I tried to read everything I could find so I could just get some glimpse into the world veterans live in.  Thank you for being the start of that journey with your passionate writing. 

I lost a half-brother during that war; I never got to know him.  A number of family members served in Vietnam and my brother-in-law died at age 50 a few years ago.  Vietnam has taken so many young men and women.  I have been with an Air Force medevac for 18 yrs.  I believe that my reading about the war and the experiences the soldiers went through helped in my relationships with different veterans.  I am thankful for that.

What you wrote above was, once again, eloquent and thought-provoking.  I’m glad you lived.  Keep doing your thing for peace.

Mr. Kovic.

In 1984 at the Chelsea Cafe located at California and Polk Streets in San Francisco, CA, you had an open house of your paintings. I hung all your paintings for you serving as your arms and legs.

It was a succesful event: ABCTV KGO was there; Lawrence Ferlingehtti of CITY LIGHTS was there, etc.

I left for South America via Canada shortyl after the event, and lost track of you. Heard that you had ran for Congress ( ?) from Orange County, California at one time.

And suddenly,  yesterday, May 20, 2006 at St. Francis Catholic Church in Portand, Oregon where i went to hear two former vets speaks: One, Dan Tashor, former member of the “Nahal"Regiment—Israeli Army and Joseph Hatcher,, First Infantry Division; USARMY, Hatcher being an active member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. I spioke birefly and after the talk, provided your name to Hatcher as reference.

He did nto know who you were, so i gave him a brief run down on the little that I knew of you.

So many years have passed and much water has flowed past the bridge of remembrance. You write well. I enjoyed oyur piece.

And although our views differ here and there, I am glad, that somehow, your name surfaced from past decades so I could put it into the hands of another vet, young like you werevia opne of my old business cards which still had my San francisco address on it, my new address in Portland, Oregon being written on the bakc of it.

You look good with the beard

Hugo Nahuel I hope this reachers you becuase i do not know what URL to write in there.

Dear Ron,
thank you for your story.
What I think is needed is a way all the men suffering as you did and they are or will can get online and talk if that helps. Talk to people who understand. I was in the army 1978-1981 so I missed all conflicts we were involved in. Had I joined earlier or later I would have been somewhere I would not wish to be. I had a motorbike accident in ‘81 so know what pain is and being stuck months in a hospital. What the Governments do in cutting vet hospitals is a crime and yet they get away with it. Even here the Prime Minister tells soldiers they will be looked after if wounded, sure they will. Dave.

Ron, just saying hello. I just watched Born on the Forth (again) and am dizzy but peaceful. I’m a T5 paraplegic from a motorcycle wreck in 91 at the age of 21.
Hope you are well.

Beautifully written. I can’t think what to say. I have nothing intelligent to add.

Thank you, Mr. Kovic.

Dear Ron,
Whether you have the chance to read these messages I don’t know, but many comments on here make me smile in their ignorance of what it means to be a young soldier.  The confidence through physical fitness, the camraderie shared and the immense pride on being a representative for your country in times of need.  I can clearly remember the day when given my red beret of the British Army’s Parachute Regiment.  I too spent countless hours playing ‘war’, first as a child with friends in woods, then as a 19 year old in Kosovo and more recently in Iraq in 2003.  I know exactly why you went on that 2nd tour of Vietnam.  And I also know what it’s like to be faced with the reality that you or any one of your mates is gonna get hit any second.  There’s a quote now on a wall of a building at Auschwitz Concentration camp in Poland…‘We learn from history that we don’t learn from history’.
Maybe one day the realities of war will not be censored and politicians will be held accountable for the decisions they make, and the foreign policies that result in death and destruction, and the killing and the wounding and the horrible, terrible, despicable and devastating truths of warfare will force the world to seek the peace every person in this world has a right to.

Son of a gun.  I can’t believe you keep someone like Kathleen Dickson’s posts on your site, and don’t remove them.  She’s a total LOON who is looking for any reason she can find for why her kids were taken from her.  She knocks anything government, and should be happy as a pig in poop that they let her out of that nutfarm she was committed to.

And OBVIOUSLY, I think it’s horrible that innocent people are being wounded in a war.

Dear Americans and Ron,
I’ll try to keep this harsh critique of both the writing, and comments short. It no longer interests me to rant on end about how horrible America has become.
Firstly. Ron, although I both respect and admire the position your write your peice from, I can not accept the fact that the wounded coming in from Iraq, and those you witnessed coming in from Vietnam were puppets in a President’s play to expand the now terrifying Americanization of the world. You, the soldiers you fought with, and those fighting in Iraq made a concious decision to serve in the American Armed Forces. Before things get heated, it is my position that defending one’s country is a matter no citizen should be void of. It’s what unifies members of a nation. Secondly, and having said this, there are definitley rules to this matter of national defense. Point being, invading a sovereign nation without sanction from the United Nations would definitley qualify as a breach of the rules. No person has the right to invade their neighbour’s home because they feel he is a threat to the quality of grass he likes to maintain on his own property, therefore Bush and America has no right to invade Iraq on pure speculation. Any soldier who faught in Vietnam, and any soldier who is fighting in Iraq does so on their own free will. I understand people were drafted for the Vietnam War, but there were also people who refused their duty (As they should have). It’s a judgement call people are either to ignorant to make, or simply fail to make properly. I’m absolutley ashamed at people who laud your writing as if it’s the first real thought on the situation in Iraq. It’s a war. People get shot, people die, and it’s horrible. However, if I was serving in the American Armed Forces and I got shot, the first thing I would think would be “Why the @!*& did I choose to serve in a war my country had no right being in. I also understand if you are a registered member of the Army and you choose not to serve, you will be dishonourably discharged, but it’s better than killing someone who you dont have any right killing, shooting at people you have no right shooting at (nor know), or being killed over a matter of governmental advancement in the post cold-war era. It’s absolutley absurd that anyone can sit infront of their computer, and write what you just wrote thinking it’s the best thing since sliced bread, let alone comment on such a mockery of anti-war values. Soldiers who fight, choose to fight. Their poor judgment (along with your’s Ron) has lead to this huge public backlash of people whining about how bad President Bush is, when within weeks of the events of 9/11, American’s (EVERYWHERE) were stock-piling guns and ammunition ready for the fight. It’s not the givernment, it’s the publics inability to control said government. Shame on you America.

Dear Ron,
Sometimes the hardest thing to do is love the country but not what it is doing. My heart breaks concerning what is going on right now.  You have been and now I find through this page, continue to be so brave. 
Last month I went to my cousin’s posthumus silver star award here in Mississippi. He said he wouldn’t make it home because he knew where he was being sent (Devil’s Triangle). He lasted just a few months.  We would rather have had him home than a star.
Years ago we were the last to become involved in wars.  Now we patrol the world and bring “peace” everywhere!  I want to do more to help these boys that you speak for.  I will look for ways to help and would love to hear from you about what we can do. My heart goes out to you for all you have done to prevent the past being repeated.  We all must stand with you and try to be as brave as you have been.  You are in my prayers and my heart.  All Americans must find a new way to proud of America - a way that doesn’t include war. My son is thirteen and I just showed him excerpts from your movie.  My history classes always included discussions of Ron Kovic.  I am very proud of you and realize how many of us owe you a great debt of gratitude.                Lisa Byrd

Thank you, Mr. Kovic for sharing this and thank you for all the helpful comments that I have the opportunity to read here.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – The Gift That Keeps on Giving - or are there really some things worse than death.

The other evening I spent watching old tapes of interviews with Vietnam veterans.  One of the most moving was an unedited tape I had from WGBH - a tape of then returned vet (Frank) who recounted his experiences of combat and the even more horrific repercussions ten years later in the form of more and more vivid nightmares.  “These dreams were worse than the events I experienced when I was over there.  When I was there, I was Rambo, John Wayne.  Now I am experiencing all the horror I protected myself from.  Three months ago the dreams turned into Technicolor.  The blood and carnage is more than I can bear.”  An attached producer’s postscript noted that since the taping (in 1981) Frank has had two more incidents of breakdown and has been committed twice for these ongoing psychotic attacks.

In the seventies and eighties, I spent time working with Vietnam vets and produced a film with a psychologist friend who was using interviews such as the one with Frank to assist in her work with vets and their families.  We found that, although many vets were understandably traumatized by some of the much touted (baby-killer) responses of the “New Left,” the deciding factor in their re adjustment to civilian life was more often than not the return to a loving supportive family and spouse. 

The Vietnam War cut a bloody swath through a whole generation of American (mostly) men.  They were the forgotten soldiers and have been shunted aside by the public and the politicians eager to put a humiliating, loosing war behind us.

Now I’m afraid we are producing a whole new generation of similarly displaced veterans.  There is no doubt that Iraq is an even larger debacle than ‘Nam.  “Support our Troops” is nothing more than a slogan of an administration and a Secretary of Defense more bent on PR than real substance.  Many with an uncaring shrug impotently recognize the scandal of the neglect of returning soldiers with mental and physical disabilities. 

Frank said he sometimes wished he had died in Vietnam. 

When these soldiers return from Iraq without benefit of proper debriefing, without the full medical support they should receive, they will be in pretty bad shape.  When they return to a society that tells them the full magnitude of the lies, deceit and misinformation that they were fed by their Commander in Chief – it might not be too unexpected if some of them go a little bit crazy(er.)  The report has it that fully one third of returning vets suffer severe mental problems resulting from their service.  Frank’s true PTSD problems didn’t hit until almost ten years after his initial combat experiences.  Is it realistic to expect that very many survivors of “Iraqi Freedom” will escape these horrors that continue to haunt their Vietnam vet brethren? 

I wish that our president, who avoided doing his own duty in Vietnam, had even a microscopic understanding of combat - its traumas and consequences.  Back then he hid from the horrors of a misguided foreign policy behind his father’s pants legs the way he now hides behind the pants legs of his minders and the secret service who protect him from a betrayed American people.  I predict that he will need this level of protection from the wrath of the veterans of “Iraqi Freedom” for the rest of his life. Vets never forget!

I wish George W. also knew more about karma, geopolitics and his own Holy Book:

“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind   (Hosea 8:7)

Bob Boldt
Jefferson City, MO

Ron, I have read 2 conflicting stories, on the web site http://www.heroism.org. Did you get shot? or did you purposely step on a booby trap?  Do you think there is a difference between WWII,Vietnam and Iraq?  Is there any integrity for responding to an attack on American Soil? ie. Pearl Harbor and 9/11.  It just seems that there is a difference to me since an attack on Americans did not preceed the Vietnam War. Am I wrong in this perception???  I am eager and open to your perceptions re: these questions I have.

Your article rings true on so many levels.I wasn’t in Vietnam or Iraq but my father was in Korea.  He too was wounded physically but it was the emotional wound which took his life. 

He was a musician forced to watch his buddies die in front of him in war.  His body returned home but the rest of him never did.  What he had seen and experienced ate at him like an aggressive cancer, sapping away his hope for the future and ability to maintain relationships.  In effect, there were three wounded in that war—may father, his wife and my mother, and me.

Thank you for articulating the waste of generations in the waging of war.

Ron, I was at the White House in the East Room when Pres. Jimmy Carter promoted one of your books as the definitive book on the Vietnam War. 

I was on professional staff of the House Veterans’Affairs Commitee at the time. I was connected with then US Rep. Margaret Heckler, R-MA, a tireless advocate of the Vietnam Veteran on a Committee composed of mostly WWII vets who did not understand the Vietnam Veteran. But, with the leadership of Max Cleland as Administrator of the VA, we got the veterans counseling centers needed to assist guys like your self. You appeared with Rep Heckler on Nightline to promote the centers. Do you recall?

  I’m still not clear on whether or not you volunteered to fight in Vietnam or didn’t volunteer. The “Born of the 4th of July” movie
has you volunteering. Just as now we have an AVF.

  With due respect, you were doing your 2nd tour in the Nam. You knew death, maiming and brutality were all around you. You knew you could be one of the casualties. Why did you go on? Why did you continue to fight in a 2nd tour? Did you think you were invincible, despite the horrors you witnesses so often during your first tour?

Did you think and believe in the war to the extent that you thought you could accomplish victory during a 2nd tour? You knew of the broken bodies, broken minds, broken promises of the US Governemnt in relation to the war, did you not? What made you go on for a 2nd tour? I just don’t understand it. Do you have second thoughts about having re-upped for a second tour? Why or why not.

Regardless, you have faced an excrutiating situation as a result of your wounds. I admire your struggle from the beginning and to the present. You remain a powerful voice.

But is pacificism the answer in the face of Islamofascism and its determination to destroy the USA? Or is that attitude the suicide you have never taken as an option?

I don’t know which URL you want. So this is a test to see if I can transmit to yu.

Dear Ron,
Here is a link and a follow up to some of the questions you proffered. Perhaps you have read about Maj. Tammy Duckworth and her appearance On March 17, 2005,  as she testified before the Senate Veterans Committee

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/fgduckworth.htm

the link speaks to the commitment of today’s elected leaders carrying the message to the highest levels of government and another veterans story.

Chad I don’t remember Iraq attacking the US in 9/11?

Ron, Do you believe there is a difference between WWII,Vietnam and the War in Iraq? I dont recall being attacked by Vietnamese on American soil ie:Pearl Harbor and 9/11. Is there any integrity in responding to an attack???
Through history and your story I have learned so much, But why do I not feel the same way re:WWII and Iraq? You’ve helped me gain a perception re:Vietnam, I’m asking for guidance and a new perception re: the Wars I have mentioned.

Thank You

I wept -  for you,  for them,  for all of us

GOOD BLESS AMERICA AND RON KOVIC A HERO TANKYOU FOR THE FOTO RON.

I admire your courage and strength of charachter.
Your fight is every is that of each of us who value peace.
Les

Dear Ron,

I have admired your work as an anti-war activist for many years and it’s an honor to be in contact.

I’ve been trying to make people aware of how wrong from the very beginning it was to go to war in Iraq. Bush, Cheney & cronies are now preparing to go into Iran as planned.

I’m active in the peace movement and have served in The Air Force.(peace time)I’m trying to figure out how to make people demand a pullout of troops. There is a large segment of Americans who don’t support this war but do not engage in opposing it.

I don’t believe in being confrontational, in thier face.(I’ve tried) My goal is to get a few people from my office to take part in protest on the third anniversary of this war. I don’t want my coworkers to lock themselves in thier homes to watch the NCAA basketball on TV like last year. I would just like to make them aware. Any advise you could give I’d appreciate.

War is but a symptom of what faces us all pertaining to new world order. I’m not hopeless by any means and I don’t want to relent to frustration. You’ve overcome so much in your life. I would like to make the “out of sight/out of mind” people aware of what’s happening. I turn to what inspires me for strength. To find the courage, strength, and wisdom within me.

God Bless,

Rod

Thank you, Ron, for reminding us all once again that “Freedom is not free.” There is always a terrible price to be paid in blood, suffering and death, which are now and always have been the coins of the realm.

When I was in the Army back in the 1960s I heard a saying that still rings true to this day:

“Old soldiers never die. Young ones do.”

May God above bless you and keep you, for now and always.

Sincerely,

Bob Steele

Dear Ron,

Thank you for your amazing candor—as always. One very searing memory in my mind took place in LA, as I watched the goons try to dump you out of your wheelchair for telling the truth about Vietnam. Fast-forwarding 34 years to the Eve of the Destruction of Iraq, I vainly tried to get young people to think beyond the war, to its sorry consequences. Something many of us learned the hard way is that even if you aren’t a soldier yourself, you are nonetheless part of your soldiers’ war. Today, the after-effects of Vietnam have barely faded, yet here we are again…! War is cultured by a society’s tacit approval of imperialism, and also every time we reward violent means to gain power over others.

Peace on you, Brother Ron,

Samantha

Given that the truth has become public knowledge, I don’t understand why Americans are not demanding Bush and Cheney’s heads.

Dear Ron,
I am old enough to remember your work against the Vietnam war. I know many returnees.
I only escaped the draft due to the lottery system in play at the time.
My mentor in the early 70’s was a WWII vet, Merrill’s marauders, recon, point man on the Lido road, Burma. His view of the Vietnam war was similar to your’s at the time. He explained the cost of war, he dealt with the cost of war and the injuries he brought back.
Alchoholism from during the campaign til 1960, living with every life he took. Life in the jungles of southeast asia, 1941-1945.
Five bullet scars, two schrapnel wounds, and the emotional scars that never heal. The loss of his family through divorce, his eventual redemtion and finally death and peace at 68. (He did recieve $60/ mo. disability for his troubles.)
He described to me the unspeakable carnage war involves, the true view of combat. Not the sanitized version we so often are given.
I have heard folks say the problem with the vets recovery is that they don’t talk about things that happened during combat.
Those folks could not stomach and would not believe the truth.
When people think there is too much violence in a movie like “Saving private Ryan” or “Plattoon” they don’t even realize how sanitized these versions of combat are.
How can a returning vet begin to describe the conditions and realities of real ground combat without being thought of as “crazed”.
No human being should ever be exposed to the violence of true ground combat.
And all this was only graphically described to me.
Maybe if all vets were able to tell the true conditions of jungle combat could we all begin to understand.
Precision bombing, precision targeting, what a grand falicy.
Thank you for your efforts to educate us.

Dear Ron,

I hardly know what to say but thanks for your honest, heart-wrenching truth that war accomplishes nothing but destroys lives.

I sincerely hope that your courage to share your pain and insight can help all of us get past bi-partisan rancor and realize that PEACE is a solution. War, for any reason, is not.

God bless all of you who have fought and continue to fight for reasons that few of us understand.

Dear Ron,
Many thanks. My son, 17, just finished reading your account and forwarded it to a couple of friends; they know each other from ice hockey. I have not been in combat and his hearing about it from you has a lot more weight than any spiel from me.

I take the Broadway Local into Manhattan and often look up at the Bronx VA up on the hill from around 225th; images of your ordeal sometimes come to me since 20 yrs ago I read Born on the Fourth.

Besides showing my son a reality he needs to know—armed combat, and the chicanery of a US State run by a venal, chickenshit junta-elite and its media lackies eager to send others’ kids into the maw to guarantee/covet their own wealth and privilege—your account helped me see how my own problems don’t amount to a rats ass and I’d better get off my own to try to catch up to you.

Best regards from the Bronx

Well, I’m among the privileged.  ‘Too young for VietNam and too old for this war,... and female.  But I never forgot the older kids in the neighborhood who came home in body bags, and the surreality of it all for everyone involved, nor have I ever taken my good fortune lightly or complacently. 

And I know what it’s like to have your ass kicked for having done the right thing for your country.

Kathleen

Ron,

The days of Iraq fade into the days of Vietnam for me.

As a Vietnam Era Vet I worked in the corridors of Letterman Army Hospital.  I saw the wounded and the dislocated.  But what I saw far from the front was sanitized compared to the horror my fellow medics saw on the front lines.

And now they come home again.

Our church ministers to the homeless in Southern California and I am shamed every time I encounter another discarded veteran forgotten by the chicken hawks running this ruinous war.

I have found it incumbant to pass along your book to my two sons that they learn the true cost of war.  Your message gives me hope to keep on preaching peace, preaching responsibility for our vets, preaching hope to my brothers and sisters working to end this war.

May God continue to bless your witness lest we never forget.

Fr. John

Dear Ron,
I read your article.  You are an artist and have expressed to me the experience of your coming to this place, today.  Thank you for sharing the reality of what we have really done to human beings for the last fory years, or should that be four hundred years.  I am ashamed to be experiencing this period in American History.  You, however have lived it in a way I will never know.
Sixteen thousand wounded Americans in Iraq.  How many Iraqis killed and wounded?  The powers at war do not even care to count.  We are doing diastrous things in the world, like we did in Viet Nam, and do not understand or care about the consequences.  They will be harsh and enduring.
I believe our country is “moving through that dark night of the soul to a new shore,” as you so eloquently stated in your article.  It is sad the ideologues in authority have so corrupted truth and democracy by their choices and dependencies on power and money.
We are still deeply connected to the greatness of the founding ideals of this nation and there are plenty of people who get it.  It is my hope that we wake up together and return to the reasonableness and goodness of these ideals and apply them to policies which truly reflect our belief in justice and compassion for all the people of the world.
Thank you.
Your friend,

Ben Schepps

As much comtempt as I feel for this administration, I feel almost as much for their opposition, the Democrats, a party I used to identify with.  Why in God’s name is there no serious opposition to this War and the destruction you so vividly describe?  Where are the politicians and the grieving mothers?  Why do they not care - is it because there’s no fear of the draft - no fear that what happened to you and today’s, 15-20,000 can happen to most Americans? 

Apathy?  Not here, Semper Fi my brother!

Dear Ron,
  This web link was sent to me by a friend.  I was so moved by your words that I am sending this along to the people on my list!
  Let me start by saying this war in Iraq IS another Vietnam.  Any half -bright human being can see that.  I see no end to it, either.  But your words will live on and give people inspiration yet again.  I continue to sign every petition that comes to me about this war and how it is time to leave, how the soldiers are, the families, the government that continues to push this reprehensible war on the world!  I can’t even begin to understand what you went through. I can’t begin to fathom these young men & women in Iraq or Afganistan and what these wars are doing to them, physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. Then to mention the broken families left behind.  It is also the children of these brave people I worry about, because they are the next generation to grow up with these memories What will they do with them? I have my own way of grieving this, and part of my grieving is to encourage impeachment of the leaders of this govenment who have no children in this war, who can sit back eat dinner in peace without worrying that the next minute they will have a body part blown off of them.  So all I can do is sign each and every one and forward them on.  The internet is a very powerful tool.  I have also thought about actually visiting these soldiers in the VA hospitals, if one was close to me.  But nevertheless, please know that what you are doing my dear friend IS being heard and my prayers and others’ prayers go to the ending of this war and having Bush et al answer for their crimes.
May you be blessed for the rest of your life,
  Maya Silliman, R. N. Rainier, Wa. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Gee, the stories I have heard of many wounded that can’t wait to get back to their units must all be made up by those nasty GOP’S.

Ron, how about making another movie, a documentary just as real as your words here? Sit down with vets from all our recent wars, and have them tell their stories. War is a crime, we can eliminate it if people see how evil and torturous it really is. I served in Vietnam, as did six others from my High School. Two died there, one completed suicide soon after returning, and all the rest had severe drug/alchohol/job/relationship problems upon returning.
Thanks for cutting through the crap. Hugh

Ron ~ Thank you so much. I am a self exciled political refugee from the US because of Vietnam. I kept it all to myself for 30+ years and only recently started to open up about it. With all the talk of Vietnam with Kerry’s presidential candidacy it came crashing back into my reality. I was a major broadcaster in the 60’s in Los Angeles and while at KABC-FM the first returning soldier came to me and did that act of treason of spilling the beans to me, a civilian (but also a US military veteran), about My Lai. I told nobody at ABC but kept it within myself while switching stations to be general manager of KPPC-FM in Pasadena. Shortly, two more veterans exposed their involvement in the massacre. When we made it public that we were getting reports from Vietnam that My Lai happened it was the end of my broadcast career. I fled to Canada, went commercial fishing, and kind of hid out. That exposure changed the course of that war, so I feel very proud of having been in the right place at the right time.
I wrote Amy Goodman (Democracy Now) to inquire if there is some kind of registry of Vietnam vets who have stayed in touch with each other. I do not know the name of that first returning soldier who came to me at KABC but I was sure that he was headed to suicide because of his heavy burden. I have spoken of him recently and it brings a heavy emotion to my soul and my eyes. It would be so wonderful if somehow I could know that he survived. I just found out about the greatest hero of all ~ Hugh Thompson. What a magnificent humanitarian, and only 25 at the time. Again, it not only wet my eyes, but I cried, for the magnitude of his bravery.
I am appalled at the evil empire of Cheney/Bush and the US sheep that allow the yellow journalism of Fox news to dominate them. I am appalled.
Where is John Lennon now when we need him to lead the way ~ GIVE PEACE A CHANCE.

It takes writing like this to blow away some of the fog of our country’s habitual forgetfulness. Thank you, Ron, for keeping it real; for calling on us all to abandon the path of sleepwalking.

I sent this forward with your article attached to every one I know, Thank You…

Please Forward…
IT IS PATRIOTIC TO DISSENT!
Forward By:
  Ray C Askew / Now 57 Years Old
  Discharged As Sergeant E/5
  Military Police Corps
  US Army
  Viet Nam Era Veteran / 1969
  Monterey, California
To My Dear Friends,
  Since these conflicts in the Middle East involving my country and fellow soldiers have arisen, I have been torn apart emotionally by memories of my service in the Hospital Wards of The Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio Texas, where the most severe cases of battle casualties are “warehoused”.  I write this and forward the article below in an attempt to:
1) Heal myself emotionally,
2) Being a patriot, clear my conscience of my prior silence in opposing this war, and
3) Inform you of yet another true, horrible, and important “COST” of this administrations actions for your consideration.  The Greatest COST Of All.
  My own battle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder returns to the forefront as I sit here with tears in my eyes and write this to you. 
  I personally worked in these wards mentioned in this article 30 years ago as a twenty year old “Buck” Sergeant .  The sights and sounds portrayed in this article are true and believe me, only the tip of a very gruesome iceberg.  If you think that “well things must have changed in the VA System in thirty years” you’re right they have gotten worse.
  Mr. Ron Kovic (See Featured Movie: “Born On The Fourth Of July”) describes in only some relaxed detail, the true horror of mans inhumanity to his fellow man, for if the full descriptive truth be told, you would be reeling with visualizations of things that no human being should have to see, much less participate in, or be the subject of and endure, but due to the reality of war, participation IS a necessity and SOMEONE (maybe your son or daughter) HAS TO DO IT!
  I too will try not to disturb you further with the physically sickening, absolute horror of the things I have seen in a military hospital during wartime, but I urge you to, in your minds eye, just try to multiply the horrors portrayed below by whatever numerical value you can muster and suffice to say, without having been there and seen these things, you will fall far short of the mark.
  As this administration of greed driven, draft dodging cowards send and SPEND more and more of our 19 and 20 year old men in this action, the numbers of wounded are going to increase in a system that is inadequately prepared for and already over capacity because we are still caring for those souls, from WW II and Korea and Viet Nam and Panama And Grenada in our understaffed Veterans Administration Hospitals, who will never, ever, see the light of day again.  Meanwhile this administration rapes veterans rights and healthcare and can’t even provide adequate body armor for our troops and their vehicles, so that the country can “budget"and afford this war?  Well I guess you’ve got to save some money some where.
  When you think of the figures of “wounded” coming through your television at night, if you get them, you may tend to think “well at least they weren’t killed”.  Believe me in many of these cases death would be more humane, honorable and even preferable, to and if, these brave men even had the physical capacity to make a choice and communicate their wishes.  (As far as I’ve seen they often forget to publish the numbers of wounded from a particular action any more, only the numbers killed in order to sanitize their figures.)
  I am sick to death of these war mongering, saber rattling individuals and their supporters who will rally for this war, believe “King Georges” propaganda and lies, and send our children to fight a war for profit in the name of the common good, under the auspices of bringing peace and democracy to a people who do not want or even understand it!  In the meantime our country and our young people suffer and we lose the respect of the rest of the world, who once looked upon us as a genuinely fair, caring and humanitarian country.  To those of you to which this might apply, I can only say, “if you have ever personally been a soldier then hopefully you would think twice before sending or supporting this administrations choice to send yours or someone else’s son or daughter to face the onslaught.”
  If you would like to label me for my views go ahead and do so, at this point I no longer care and can no longer maintain a silence, my conscience will no longer allow silence, let YOUR conscience guide you…  I’m Gonna Get A Lot Louder!
I KNOW, FIRSTHAND, THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE TO BE TRUE!
  If you are attacked FIGHT, but don’t go down and try to kick your neighbors ass cause someone says he’s got a shotgun and your afraid he’s gonna use it.  You’ll get arrested even in this country!
IMPEACH BUSH!!!  http://www.impeachbush.org
THEN GET THE HELL OUT OF IRAQ!!!
Ray Askew January 20th 2006

This article should be sent to every congressman and congresswoman to the White House. It is great!
Zachary Gardner COMMENTS omits the fact that Sadam would not have been in power if not for the USA. We put him there!

Dear Ron,

thank you for posting this gutwrenching essay.  As you know most of us have no clue of the real cost of sending young men to war.  I am one of these ignorant people—although I do guess it is not pretty and therefore does not wish any of it onto anyone.

Today is January 20th and I sincerely hope the day was not too bad for you.

Most sincerely,
guillaume

Thank you, Ron, for reminding us about the old lie: Dulce et Decorum est Pro Patria Mori. As the general public becomes increasingly desensitized to the horrors of this immoral war and as the death toll is relegated to the back pages, voices like yours must be heard. Keep fighting the good fight. Take care, buddy.

Dear Ron,
  Thank you for speaking out, as the mother of a soldier I really appreciate it. My daughter returned recently from her second tour in Iraq, she enlisted at the age of 29 to get her student loans paid off after getting a masters degree. Little did she know she would be going to war and be away from her son for almost four years. She is a different person, much stronger, but with a sadness to her that I cannot understand because I have not seen and done what she had to do. She says “Mom, I feel weird”, but cannot explain what she means. When she took her phsycological test before being redeployed, she was told things would go smoother if she answered no to all the questions..too bad one of the questions was not are you ok mentally, then she could have said no and been telling the truth. I did not like us going to Viet Nam, but back then I felt it was disrespectful to our military to protest. I do not feel that way now, I did and do protest,not the troops, but this insane war. Ron, you are so right war is not the answer. What in the world can we do to stop the lies and insanity? God Bless You.

Thank you Ron for cutting through the layers of BS and speaking the truth.  You’ve helped me and countless others to get through this thing called Vietnam and now there’s another generation out there in need.  Luckily you’re still here.

The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.
– Theodore Roosevelt, letter (January 10, 1917)

You write:
“I cannot help but wonder what it will be like for the young men and women wounded in Iraq. What will their homecoming be like?”

Our volunteer Army is an Army of heroes and will be treated as such.  That is our duty, we are in control of their welcome. Why you are unclear of that is troubling.

Dear Ron, Deepest appreciation for you and for your article this morning, which had me sobbing at my computer.  As a child I read the war poets of the 1st and 2nd world wars and thought that no-one would ever be able to think war was a solution or send their country to war after reading them.  Wrong!  How can carnage, hatred, ripped flesh and ripped lives ever be a solution to anything worthwhile?  I send you my love and gratitude for all that you have done and endured.  Most of all I join you in hope that together we will birth a world which is built on honor, respect and love.  Blessings, Hilary