Born On The Fourth Of July Essay

, Research Paper

Born on the Fourth of July

Patriotism, bravery, freedom, are all words to help describe the qualities of the United States. As Americans, we all have a sense of loyalty and respect toward our county. What happens when one comes to the realization that our country stands for one thing, but in all reality means something different. This is the trap that Ron Kovic was sucked into during his experience in the Vietnam War. Kovic started out like most Americans. He had great pride and love for his country – probably more so than most people. Unfortunately, like many Vietnam War veterans, Kovic came to the conclusion that America is not all that it’s cracked up to be. During and after the Vietnam War, Kovic’s view of the war and of his country changed dramatically. Kovic was not proud of what he had done in Vietnam and felt nothing but regret. Throughout the book, Born on the Fourth of July, Kovic describes the multiple events that caused him to become an antiwar activist. Kovic’s view of the Vietnam War changed dramatically due his feelings of guilt, remorse, and rejection. Every traumatic event that Kovic experienced put more hate in his heart for the Vietnam War and for Americans.

As a young child, Ron Kovic, dreamed of the day he could join the Marine Corps. He and his friend would study exquisite pamphlets with very sharp looking marines on the covers, and daydream of the day that they too would become Marines (56). During Kovic’s adolescent years, his dream was to become someone that people could look up to and respect, and he felt that serving the United States was a great way to accomplish his goal. There had always been a part of Kovic that took great pride in the United States, and he hoped that one day he would be able to serve his country. Kovic’s dream finally became reality. In September 1964, the paperwork was completed and Kovic was officially registered to become a Marine (75). Although Kovic was fulfilling his lifetime dream, he could have never prepared himself for how his decision to become a Marine would affect the way he viewed America and forever change the way he lived his life.

Kovic’s first glimpse of a change in attitude towards the war occurred on the battlefield in Vietnam. During a violent firefight, the corporal of Kovic’s troop was shot and killed. Not only was the corporal killed, but Kovic also thought he might have been the one who shot the corporal. It was at this time that Kovic first questioned why he was in Vietnam fighting for his country. This particular incident made Kovic realize that innocent people were being killed. Killing the corporal had a strong impact on him because for the first time he had killed one of the “good” guys, and not the Communist enemy. After Kovic shot the corporal, he admitted to the major that he believed he was the one who killed the corporal. When Kovic did this, the major reassured him that it could get very confusing on the battlefield and that most likely Kovic did not kill the corporal (193). As a result, the major gave Kovic a second chance and made him feel better about what happened on the battlefield that day. In the book, Kovic states that after talking to the major, his thoughts of killing the corporal had begun to fade. That night, Kovic wrote in his diary how lucky he was to be in Vietnam fighting for America (198). Although Kovic had begun to forget about killing the corporal and was again feeling about participating in Vietnam War, he was just in a state of denial. It would only be a matter of time before Kovic would again question the war in Vietnam. The killing of the corporal would soon start to subconsciously eat away at Kovic.

Consequently, Kovic would not be able to block the killing of the corporal out of his mind for long. An incident far more severe would jog his memory and again make Kovic think twice about the value of fighting in the war. The tragic event took place one night when Kovic and his troops were out on patrol. On that particular night, Kovic’s lieutenant thought they had come upon an enemy campground and he ordered them to blow up the campsite. Kovic and his men carried out the orders only to discover that they had killed a tent full of innocent children and an old man (204-205). After this incident, Kovic was never the same. He began to again feel guilty about killing the corporal and remorseful for killing the children (210). Kovic’s lieutenant did not make him feel any better by telling troops to shut up and stop crying about what they had done. I am sure the fact that the lieutenant reacted that way showed Kovic that American’s did not care about hurting other innocent people because they just wanted to win the war. It was at this time that Kovic began to realize that he did not want to be in Vietnam fighting for his country, and the only thing he could think about was how to get out of Vietnam alive.

The preceding two events were the beginnings of Kovic changing his views of the war. These two events lead Kovic to decide that he did want to put his life on the line for his country (210). It was a combination of guilt and remorse that first influenced Kovic’s change in attitude towards the Vietnam War. His attitude quickly went from being willing to die for America to intentionally putting himself at physical risk. If he were injured, without being mortally wounded, he would have an avenue for a medical discharge.