Kovic Asks if Vietnam Taught Us Anything

[bemildred]

Mr. Kovic has some thoughts .

Ron Kovic comes toward me in his
wheelchair before the doors of the
elevator close. He reaches for my hand
and squeezes hard. "Come on," he says,
and we slip into the third-floor Redondo
Beach apartment where he's been
painting, writing, suffering through
another war.

Kovic's home is strikingly neat, as if this
is his way of bringing order to the world.
His canvas paintings hang from the walls
like Polaroids of disturbed dreams. They
hang next to photos of him with Oliver
Stone and Tom Cruise, who played Kovic
in the movie based on his searing, angry
and sorrowful book, "Born on the Fourth
of July."

Kovic, with clipped white beard and wire
rim glasses, apologizes for not answering
my first call a couple of weeks ago. He
was holed up here, in mourning and
rebellion, as the three-year anniversary of
Sept. 11 rolled around about the same
time the toll of dead American soldiers in
Iraq hit 1,000.

"What did we learn from Vietnam?"
Kovic asks.

LA Times(registration)

[madmax]

1. I've been thinking of Ron Kovic lately,

wondering what his thoughts were on the war. Thanks for posting.

[bemildred]

2. Mr. Kovic earned the right to be heard. nt

[Deja Q]

3. I'd ask if the 70s oil crisis taught us anything...

Obviously, it hasn't.

Reagan made things worse by saying alternative energy was 'obsolete', proving he was utterly unfit to be a leader...

No president since Carter had addressed the ramifications of oil. Something that damn well should have. Indeed, all presidents after Carter did things that only worsened our need for the sludge. (Clinton removed the 55MPH speed limitation, and it's a fact that after 35MPH or so, one uses more gas to obtain and maintain that speed. Indeed, going 65MPH requires 15% more gas on average than to do 55MPH...)

[Zen Democrat]

4. Thanks for the post. I, too, have been thinking of Ron. n/t

[Melodybe]

5. Thanks for posting Ron is a real hero

That article brought on tears, this whole mess of a war is such a waste.