As a young child, Ron Kovic, dreamed of the day he could join the Marine Corps. He and his

Kovic changes in his attitude of the Vietnam War did not happen over night, it was a serious of events that made him full of hatred. The fact that he felt guilty, remorseful, and rejected had a strong impact on him wanting to speak out against the war. The war in Vietnam did not go the way Kovic had hoped. He had killed a fellow American, took the lives of innocent children, and was disrespected by his countrymen. He had gone into the Vietnam War ready to the people of America and got nothing in return?wouldn?t that make anyone become an antiwar activist?

After Kovic was shot and paralyzed from the chest down, his life turned upside down and his resentment towards the Vietnam War grew immensely. It was in the hospital that he got his first glimpse of how Vietnam veterans were treated. In the VA hospital, the doctors and nurses were always laughing, yelling, and disrespecting the patients. The hospital was filthy and the veterans were treated like they were worthless. At this point, he was shocked to see how much disrespect he received from the doctors and nurses. The disregard of the patients, greatly contributed to his change in attitude. However, the disrespect that he received in the Veteran's hospital was only a sample of what was to follow from his fellow American citizens.

It was upon his return home that he realized many of his fellow citizens did not view him as a war hero. He and another injured veteran participated in a parade in honor of those who fought in Vietnam. He expected people to be waving and cheering for him since he had risked his life to fight for their country, but to his disappointment, all he received was blank looks from his fellow countrymen. Not only was he not welcomed home, but also when his escorts tried to help him out of car, they carelessly flung his paralyzed body around almost dropping him. The fact that Kovic was shown so much disrespect and no appreciation continued to push him towards becoming an antiwar activist.

The day that he had longed for finally came. The enemy shot him, and

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