You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
kevin_shepherd 's review for:
Born on the Fourth of July
by Ron Kovic
A chronicle of the life of Ron Kovic, a young man from Massapequa, Long Island who grew up in a typical American home, immersed in typical American values, and, in the late 1960s, did a typical American thing: he went off to war.
The Warrior Archetype
To begin the transition from civilian to soldier, it is necessary to draw out the “warrior archetype,” to arouse that primordial element responsible for the ferocity, tenacity, and ethnocentric unity that makes human warfare possible. For Kovic, this transition began early when he took to playing war games* with his childhood friends.
*NOTE: If I can interject a little Jungian philosophy here - regardless of the culture in which children are raised, the playing of warlike games has been observed in male adolescents around the globe. Carl Jung took this as a testament to his theory of the archetypal nature of the human animal and how such a nature is shaped by man’s evolutionary history.
By the time Kovic reached the age of eligibility for military service, the psychological foundation of the soldier mentality was already set in place. Immediately after high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines. His decision to become a marine, a military branch with a tough reputation, may have been rooted in a desire for self-validation. Whatever the reason, Ron soon found himself in combat.
The Deconstruction of an Archetype
On the 12th day of October, 1967, Kovic and his marine platoon engaged in battle with Viet Cong soldiers near the Cua Viet river. During this confrontation, several Vietnamese civilians, including women and children, were killed. In addition, Kovic accidentally shot and mortally wounded a fellow American marine, 18 year old William Charles Wilson.
Kovic felt a deep sense of regret and empathy toward the massacred civilians and debilitating guilt over the death of Private Wilson. Yet, when he reported the incidents to his commanding officer, his confession was sharply rebuked and he was turned away. The realities of war were quickly obliterating his gilded, youthful ideals.
Coming Home
Sentenced to a lifetime in a wheelchair by a Viet Cong bullet, Ron returned to Massapequa in 1969. His internal struggle, however, continued. He first sought refuge in drugs and liquor, but later found solace in the constructive outlet of political activism.
For Ron, the duality of self - the creation, integration, and bonding on one side, and the disintegration, destruction, and dissolution on the other - was split apart by the reality of Vietnam. His story is, in effect, a microcosm of what went on within the collective conscience of American society during that time.
Ron Kovic’s autobiography is unsavory but honest. He started out as a standard bearer of American exceptionalism and ended up as a casualty of a very unpopular war.
The Warrior Archetype
To begin the transition from civilian to soldier, it is necessary to draw out the “warrior archetype,” to arouse that primordial element responsible for the ferocity, tenacity, and ethnocentric unity that makes human warfare possible. For Kovic, this transition began early when he took to playing war games* with his childhood friends.
*NOTE: If I can interject a little Jungian philosophy here - regardless of the culture in which children are raised, the playing of warlike games has been observed in male adolescents around the globe. Carl Jung took this as a testament to his theory of the archetypal nature of the human animal and how such a nature is shaped by man’s evolutionary history.
By the time Kovic reached the age of eligibility for military service, the psychological foundation of the soldier mentality was already set in place. Immediately after high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines. His decision to become a marine, a military branch with a tough reputation, may have been rooted in a desire for self-validation. Whatever the reason, Ron soon found himself in combat.
The Deconstruction of an Archetype
On the 12th day of October, 1967, Kovic and his marine platoon engaged in battle with Viet Cong soldiers near the Cua Viet river. During this confrontation, several Vietnamese civilians, including women and children, were killed. In addition, Kovic accidentally shot and mortally wounded a fellow American marine, 18 year old William Charles Wilson.
Kovic felt a deep sense of regret and empathy toward the massacred civilians and debilitating guilt over the death of Private Wilson. Yet, when he reported the incidents to his commanding officer, his confession was sharply rebuked and he was turned away. The realities of war were quickly obliterating his gilded, youthful ideals.
Coming Home
Sentenced to a lifetime in a wheelchair by a Viet Cong bullet, Ron returned to Massapequa in 1969. His internal struggle, however, continued. He first sought refuge in drugs and liquor, but later found solace in the constructive outlet of political activism.
For Ron, the duality of self - the creation, integration, and bonding on one side, and the disintegration, destruction, and dissolution on the other - was split apart by the reality of Vietnam. His story is, in effect, a microcosm of what went on within the collective conscience of American society during that time.
Ron Kovic’s autobiography is unsavory but honest. He started out as a standard bearer of American exceptionalism and ended up as a casualty of a very unpopular war.