Ron Kovic (Born On The Fourth Of July) INTERVIEW 1977 [Reelin' In The Years Archive]

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[@cloudreaver]

As a Vietnamese, I’m not even mad at the Americans. Humans will be humans. I’m just glad that Americans have embraced their compassion, understanding, acceptance, and forgiveness - the better angels of their nature.

[@deadman983]

America is still the same, there’s no compassion here by the government. America is still making war movies idolizing war to appeal the young. The military commercials are still showing how brave and honorable you can be to entice young men and women to join. Nothing has changed, and it’s all a big cycle. After one war there comes another, and the only people winning are the ones profiting from wars, while the soldiers loose everything.

[@zulfhashimmi2040]

You have a big heart my friend, most American boys who served were good men just in a bad situation

[@billjoe39]

I bet that attitude has changed the last 12 months

[@borisyelp5195]

We're you mad at what happened at my ly?

[@andrewjackson6763]

@@zulfhashimmi2040 Corny comment

[@star2be83]

Tom Cruise was phenomenal in the movie

[@fredwerza3478]

Deserved the Oscar!

[@DMalltheway]

@@fredwerza3478Daniel Day Lewis better

[@annalisavajda252]

Toms birthday is actually the third of July. Today.

[@DouglasRichardson-er4ky]

Yes, he was 🇺🇲🪖💜

[@lukethornberry2002]

Im 100% disabled veteran and I look to ron for strength and Jesus.

[@thehound5197]

You're 100% disabled and you're making comments on KZbin?

[@ReturnOfJackDawson]

God bless you

[@TheAcquibajo]

God bless you and thank you for your service in this horrific war.

[@tanner3285]

Thank you for your sacrifice Luke. I am happy and grateful that you are alive. You're a great person.

[@chrisnyland9639]

Thank you for your service!

[@SweetSpringFarmer1222]

Ron Kovic - and so many many others - have warned young people about the folly of most wars, but still the drums beat and the feet march...

[@zootsoot2006]

Yeah, real war is not like the movies. That seems to be his biggest gripe. What happened to him and countless others was horrific, as it has been throughout the ages. What's the alternative? Let evil conquer all? And if evil means anything then it includes Communism.

[@dug8377]

@@zootsoot2006what evil are you talking of?. All you have to do to defeat communism is wait for the society to fall apart from it losing to human nature. The system makes evil villains to keep the war machine going and the money flowing to the right people. The world is full of twisted and dark leaders but only the profitable ones are targeted by the US - because it makes money.

[@tuber6382]

​@@zootsoot2006communism is no more even than capitalism

[@ryand141]

​@@zootsoot2006Why is Marxism evil exactly? What evil about sharing wealth?

[@zootsoot2006]

@@ryand141 Because it subjugates the individual to the collective, which inevitably ends up being the whims of a single, all-powerful individual. Everyone else is turned into a drone, incapable of explicit independent thinking. As such, it all collapses in the end. We are not ants, we are human beings, made in the image of God, which just means we are all the center of our own universes.

[@gemimercury3679]

Thank you Ron, Tom and Oliver. 🏆 🏆 🏆.

[@estherduran3369]

A real life hero, his story moved me to tears

[@anubhavjha854]

I really respect Ron...

[@GaelDT]

Great testimony. Another soul forever scarred by the atrocities of Vietnam. I wonder what happened to him after this interview...

[@leivabernie]

He continues his eternal struggle for an end to these idiotic and illegal wars. Constantly visits our wounded veterans from the new conflicts. This man lives in a world that never deserved him, but we are lucky enough to have him.

[@logicalatheist1065]

he's still alive and rolling.

[@buyerofsorts]

This video clip should have about 100 million views.

[@lisadalessandro3396]

wish bill would shut up and let Ron Talk geez.

[@dirkbogarde44]

You can always watch modern interviews....they're as bland as you get.

[@TommyC503]

Thank you - ageee

[@thiagomacedo694]

Kept interrupting my man

[@TheAcquibajo]

No kidding!!! Geez he wanted to be the subject of the interview. Ass

[@springboard1994]

Exactly! I keep seeing comments saying that the interviewer is brilliant. I don't see it.

[@samuelmaurice3858]

Tom Cruise was the perfect actor to portray Ron Kovic

[@fredwerza3478]

Tom got robbed by the Academy for this epic role

[@DMalltheway]

@@fredwerza3478Daniel Day Lewis earned it, absolutely nailed the role in My Left Foot, clearly you didn’t see it.

[@pamm8608]

​@@fredwerza3478I think he got a golden globe at least.

[@CajunRulez]

Mr. Kovic has earned the right to have any opinion about the war, or America, that he wants. He also earned the right to share and express it. I'll never understand the trauma he's experienced. He's a patriot, and a courageous hero. With that said, even though I was NOT there, I don't agree that the Vietnam War can just be simply summed up as a crime against humanity. My Father was there, and he's got a totally different take on it, but nobody ever wants to hear that opinion. There was a clear mission in the beginning. No one talks about the horrific crimes against humanity committed by the Communists, but that's what we were trying to stop, just like in Korea. Yes, our soldiers were put in an impossible situation, and some horrible things happened, but that wasn't the purpose.The real criminal was the US government managing a ridiculous strategy from Washington, Mainly Johnson, but of course Hollywood made it seem like the whole thing was Nixon and the Republican's fault. Point is, it was horrible, yes, but for whatever horrors the US committed you can multiply that by 100 as compared to the horrors of the brutal Communists. If we were so scary and brutal why were Vietnamese wiling to fall to their death hanging off of helicopter skids just to get to America, or away from the Communists? We got a bad rap, and the soldiers were treated horribly. I have nothing but admiration and respect for Mr. Kovic and people like him, I just have a different take on America's role and purpose, and feel like, especially now when Socialism and Communism are romanticized, that the real monsters get a pass and somehow are seen as the victims.

[@iraqiimmigrant2908]

I agree. The root philosophy of communism is “dialectical materialism.” They believe there is no human soul, all is material. So people are nothing more than material, I.e. “workers”, to be disposed of when no longer useful. The true philosophy bubbled out of the Illuminati, and is a weapon of control because they promise a utopia but always need to control all money and material. It’s also why the Bolshevik’s were funded by Wall Street bankers (see Anthony Sutton’s book).

[@Coreyrob26]

You’re right. He’s earned the right to have an opinion, but you also have the right to have a different opinion, and I agree with yours.

[@reallymakesyouthink]

Why were the Vietnamese fleeing? Because you forced them to take sides then abandoned them. It's utter nonsense that the war was for a good reason. I can give you some book recommendations if you want.

[@Perhapsawiseman]

@@reallymakesyouthinkI’d love some book recommendations! I’m listening to The Best and Brightest and I’m going to listen to Ken Burns book on Vietnam soon!

[@reallymakesyouthink]

@@Perhapsawiseman best and brightest is excellent in showing the problems from a US political perspective. The Pentagon Papers is good in terms of detail but isn't an easy read. One of my favourites is: The Road to Vietnam America, France, Britain, and the First Vietnam War P a b l o d e O r e l l a n a I think people look just at US involvement in the LBJ years but go back to post WW2 after Vietnam kicked out the Japanese and France want to take back over. That's where this all starts really, the US stuck between Vietnam independence but wanting to have France as an ally for the cold war.

[@PeterM8888]

I’m reading it right now, with one chapter to go. I can’t believe it took me this long to read it after first watching the movie in ‘93. During reading I felt what Ron is feeling in all his pain. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read and even better after watching the movie.

[@RandyR]

Bless him. Had the honor of meeting Him and marching with him . True Hero in my book! Stands up for what is right ✌️✊

[@RandyR]

@Anneliese Keir Was paralyzed in 68. Can't feel anything below his waist. Lives in Venice CA

[@lynnarthur1411]

I marched with Ron in Los Angeles in 1970. President Regan had invited the president of South Vietnam to LA for a conference at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. I was 14 and raised by parents who were activists, and encouraged to participate in the protest. Ron wasn't well known at that time, but appeared to be a contemplative and passionate guy. He wasn't very vocal, and only stood by to observe when the violence began as several protesters started throwing Molotov cocktails. I met him only once more at another demonstration. I was young but I got a strong intuition about his character at first glance. I also recall how handsome he was, and the ladies loved him! 😉

[@epa901]

@@RandyR Ron was raised as a Christian boy, but does he still believe in God?

[@JLOCC23424]

@@epa901 He was raised catholic

[@epa901]

@@JLOCC23424 The Catholic church is just a branch of Christianity. They are Christians...

[@lisalovelace6784]

Ron Kovic, strong, hero great movie, I need to read his book. He tells it like it is.

[@Lexus2JZ]

This is why KZbin is so awesome! I never knew the movie was based on a true story, incredible!

[@nathansmith22]

The worst thing about going to war and being in combat was realizing all the horrible things you did and friends you lost were all done because of lies. I fought in Iraq and have so many regrets for what we did to those people while we were there. We left their country in shambles for what? All the lasting scars all my buddies and myself deal with to this day and the family members lives that have been effected by this. We should be very careful about the wars we support and get ourselves into. There are lasting consequences that echo on long after it's over.

[@lisaturtle13]

Beautiful, honest comment. I watched the movie again today and had these thoughts. Very powerful and painful to read what you wrote. Thank you.

[@dk418]

Interviewer - "how did you feel about killing? you played with guns as a child as many of us, as I have..." Ron - "Well Bill, first person I killed was an American. And that didn't make me feel good at all" Ron - "Second group of people I killed was Vietnamese children, and that made me feel worse..."

[@fredwerza3478]

Man, that just hit so hard to hear that --- Ron faced the worst possible situation any soldier would have to face and he lives with that pain for the rest of his life

[@samaraisnt]

He kind of cut him off a lot and didn't let him speak on certain things.

[@springboard1994]

​@@samaraisntThis ⬆️

[@ryanpatrick6582]

@@fredwerza3478He was a Marine not a soldier

[@TiltBrook]

It’s one thing when Ron grabs Charlie and pours his heart out at the end…But it’s when Charlie instantly does a 180° turn, and cries, that this scene’s power and impact is so freaking deep (and sadly beautiful) that it’s off the charts…bravo!!!

[@black1582]

Born on the Fourth of July is the best war movie that’s ever been made. It distills Smedly Butler’s “War is a Racket,” into a movie, and drives home the fact that modern war is nothing, to modern people. They stand to gain nothing and lose everything, so companies can make more money that they don’t need. Thank you Ron, for writing the book, thank you Oliver for making the movie.

[@goldgrams2524]

Yea its deep. I like how it shows the poltics behind it. America love it it leave it. You can still love America and not support the war mongering. Its alot like today and just shows how the cycle repeats

[@IsaacRainford21]

Lol fuck no your high

[@Stephen-lt1tp]

I would say Platoon is better for the Infantry life, But Born is amazing for the life after war

[@barelyillegal79]

Agreed. Seeing B4J before going to war helped remind me to keep my head down.I would imagine Kovic's story has had similar effects on others.

[@bartwreck]

Except it stars Tom Cruise... otherwise a great movie

[@druha10304]

I just saw born on the Fourth of July again what a movie!

[@gladiator8404]

Ron Kovic is a hero for veterans rights, anti war movement and a true American.

[@charliemunk2947]

Wow, I never knew Ron,went back a second time. I don't agree with Mr. Kovich on everything he says. But he is a real brave man, truly an American hero in my book. The strength to go on after such a tragic injury.. cant even imagine what he has experienced.

[@xpat73]

The interviewer needs to stop talking over him.

[@stebul7996]

Totally agree!!

[@CrocusSeal]

I'm 33....two years older than Ron is here. I still feel like a teenager some days. His experiences must have made him years older in soul and in spirit.

[@HallidayLane.]

Perfectly STATED, same here friend!

[@richardschueler4]

wow, I didn't think about that before. well said.

[@dacrib5350]

Same. Sometimes I feel like my life was so easy and living the same constant days over and over again have kept me from feeling older than I should.

[@PeterKanfer]

God bless you RK. I feel your pain everyday.....my pain happens everyday every hour....

[@rangerwhite5165]

Brilliant interviewer. Cruise should have won an Oscar for the film.

[@ImportanceOfWhatever]

He said he wanted to be a hero and he IS a hero!

[@TsurenaiYoru]

Anyone else here from knowing his nephew, Adam Kovic from Funhaus?

[@darrylswrinkledmarineshoes752]

He is magnificent

[@asanta2023]

He and all Vietnam Vets.

[@dethfilmsinc5047]

This guy is a true American hero.

[@AaronB99999]

Brilliant, thanks for putting this up.

[@ishtlutz1261]

He was so handsome! 😍

[@Nmax]

fantastic interview. Saw the movie.

[@dirkbogarde44]

Back when interviews used to be real conversations and not just BS. What happened to tv?

[@stephenfermoyle4578]

prayers and love to this Man...the movie i hoped gave Mr Kovic some satisfaction. Tom did a great job. it is horrible what they did to you. with respect to you best Stephen

[@KevinStone-bf5ey]

How did we go from this to the news that we have now? Such a contrast.

[@fboness368]

The Telecommunications Act which allowed large companies to own multiple media outlets. Only 6 companies now control everything we see and hear on TV, Radio and Print.

[@HairyBogTrotter]

Imagine something like this on TV these days

[@joewhitehead3]

Doesn’t need to be when we got the internet & social media now

[@harrycambridge1988]

Incredibly powerful

[@johngosnell5667]

hey Ron. I took a man's life when I was younger. great film Ron. i carry my guilt like purgatory

[@Chevelle602]

I feel the same way about my war, Iraq. We were all prepped by GI JOES, video games, Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, our WWII grandfathers, 9/11.

[@LivingGoodAlaska]

@@Chevelle602 Same here, now I’m probably as anti war as anyone.

[@susiehernandez6652]

What was the Iraq War about?

[@Chevelle602]

@@susiehernandez6652 I don't even know

[@angelsjourney4150]

real intense interview , cant imagine this trauma in my life

[@cameronpickard7456]

what a great man so much integrity

[@gabitamezcua]

Ron Kovic is so powerful, god bless him

[@lawrencebain]

He has more inner strength than me....i would of preferred to die in Vietnam than go home to the daily struggles being paralyzed and seeing how americans were treating vets

[@floridaboy6931]

Happy birthday Ron

[@xpat73]

Ron is amazing. Tom Cruise was amazing in the film,

[@cyranobuckminster1970]

If you could move your watermark down a little lower, it would be quite as distracting. Maybe like two inches.

[@seanwalsh5717]

3:20 "The first person I killed was an American, and I didn't feel good about that at all. And the second group I killed were Vietnamese children, and that made me feel worse..."

[@Likwidfox]

Just watched the movie wow didn't know it was real.

[@dudemcmann6936]

Ron Kovic even has a cameo in it.

[@BlackoutPatriot]

The guy didnt do his homework very well before the interview

[@markhankins3023]

Semper Fidelis @ Ron Kovic

[@MichaelWilliams-ro9bm]

Kovic was an idiot.

[@andrewgonzalez6208]

A real hero

[@jeromerizzo423]

This is why one shouldn't fantasize what will happen to oneself when going to war. When I enlisted, I already accepted the possibility that I was going to die, and I didn't die. This guy was watching to many movies and read too many war comics. He enlisted for the wrong reason in general. Not to serve, but to be a hero.😢

[@josephr4761]

The US was still constantly patting itself on the back for fighting on the wrong side of WW2 and winning even as it was becoming clear that allying with Stalin's Soviet Union and giving them half of Europe was an incredibly stupid idea. Most people were extremely patriotic and believed that the US truly had their best interests at heart. Deep brainwashing, still goes on to this day.

[@PistonHonda_1987]

Idk about wanting to be a hero, I think he just wanted to be a warrior & fight for what he believed was the right cause... when you're young & impressionable, with the American war machine pushing propaganda from everything from movies, toys, & books... it's easy to be influenced. Want to say this about 9/11... obviously my 1st thought was, "this is an inside job, there's something going on here"... then, over the course of the next few months, there was an ridiculous amount of increase in war/military video games (Xbox, Playstation, etc)

[@jeromerizzo423]

@@PistonHonda_1987 he wanted to be a hero. He even says it in this interview. The wars were justified, Vietnam wasn't fought properly, it was our first televised war and the Vietcong were using locals as human shields. 9/11 led to the Iraqi war and even though we invaded a country that had nothing to do with it, that war was successful because we fought it properly. We learned from past mistakes.

[@__Patrick]

Youre a hero Ron.

[@JulioCesar-xl1iu]

“”Respect and HonoR”” ! The NaM!

[@GoldenGateNum9]

*We're all put to the test... but it never comes in the form or at the point we would prefer, does it?*

[@SavoPaddy]

well said

[@heavymetal8655]

God bless him.

[@marcclement7396]

This is a true American. Now people don't know what bathroom to use. The country I love is going down the drain. God bless Ron and the young men who went off to war at such a young age.

[@Darksaviour]

Ron is what America is suppose to be

[@ponypalpaula]

Is Mr Kovic still with us? The movie moved my soul. This is the first time I’ve seen the real RK.

[@lisaturtle13]

It moved my soul, too.

[@72johnblack]

The interviewer sounds and looks like Will Ferrell.

[@marttyd]

Who is he?

[@miketaylorID1]

@@marttydbill boggs was a tv personality and interviewer

[@frankjamesbonarrigo7162]

@@miketaylorID1 still alive. Both of them. Gives you hope.

[@OsamaBenFartin]

👎🏼This guy is the worst interviewer ever. Kept cutting in, and kept changing the subject when Kovic was trying to share his experiences.

[@bobg6638]

Wish this interviewer would let him talk

[@gareonconley1956]

just gotta love murica

[@burgundypoint]

I don't like this interviewer.

[@darrylswrinkledmarineshoes752]

Semper fi

[@johnwilcherjr2521]

That guy was in the movie Felon

[@dickritchie2596]

He kept firing because he is a Marine.

[@austinlester1683]

It’s legit lunacy how the government reaps and benefits, we beneath seem to not care that this torment is imposed purposely onto us. The worst part is they will have your family believe them and shame you into obedience or be cast aside. Really makes you think of Jesus crucifixion and the forgive them father for the know not what they do. I’m not religious but there is truth in most mythology that is important.

[@springboard1994]

I don't like the interviewer's style. He's too intrusive. He talks too much and interrupts too much.

[@chuckr1200]

I totally agree tv interviewers are extremely rude and intrusive.

[@marttyd]

Who is the interviewer?

[@TommysHouseOfMunch]

This interviewer spends more time blowing himself than actually interviewing the dude

[@eyesaboveu]

If you ever want to go to war see this movie, or read the book first

[@joseroza1804]

Where is this guy?😢today…where is this great mind?😢

[@lisaturtle13]

I wonder, too.

[@kumailnaqvi9988]

Summed up war in one interview...stop war big countries don’t make money simple economics

[@SamuelAging]

Who is the interviewer?

[@CloneShockTrooper]

Pay attention and learn from Ron Kovic and give his sacrifice some mening.

[@NolanHawkeyeAnthony]

Would Ron be a Trump voter or Biden voter? How does he feel about Israel

[@BlackoutPatriot]

You can tell Ron is frustrated with this guy

[@sappermade6012]

There is no way NO POSSIBLE way to avoid friendly fire. Its unavoidable it’s happening every single war and there’s nothing you can do about it. Ron should’ve never felt guilty about that in the part in the movie where the family was upset is BS there’s no way there’s no way to avoid friendly fire and if you die from friendly fire, it’s an absolute honorable way to die and the man, who killed you in the friendly fire he regrets it to the bottom of his heart, but there’s no way to control it. There’s no way to stop it. It’s a part of war.

[@thatdoperoma3897]

Kovic

[@Casper50002]

The host could pass as Will Ferrell

[@araminassian6267]

I wish young Will Ferrell would stop interrupting Ron and let him speak

[@marrulsakagipser674]

A '91 Italian watch this after a Movie❤ Free Palestine....

[@ismolaaksonen9079]

💖👍

[@pegaso3terminator75]

To A man who fight for his country, that thing ask Ron, did you feel like Superman or something? Well done man show almost a bit a little respect for a brave man, that in your life you will not recognize I feel sorry for humanity

[@oceania2385]

I despised growing up in post Vietnam America.

[@thomasmarlow1254]

A true American hero 💙

[@TheFailedmessiah]

If Ron would have stayed down after being shot in the ankle. He would have been able to come home with that glamorized war limp. But when he was shot in the foot. He just wanted to fight to the end.

[@aname5078]

I can’t believe that this is Adam kovics uncle!!!

[@schrumdumlum4898]

Ik is it biological or the other one I think its probably biological but I'm asking just to be sure

[@Coreyrob26]

As a young man, you don’t pick the war you fight in. Some prove just, some you win. Others are terrible in hindsight. Ya take it on the chin and move on. He’s not wrong what he saying, but he’s also enjoying the spotlight a suspicious amount.

[@PostalWorker14]

He was disillusioned by war saw the reality

[@seandilallo8718]

It seems to me that he subconsciously sought death after the friendly fire and collateral damage incidents. After he was paralyzed he seems to have transferred his guilt onto his country.

[@trinity6402]

War is hell. Anyone with common understanding should understand that. But I wonder if he would have become the activist he was had he not been shot and paralyzed over there.

[@ryand141]

A traitor? How can somebody utter those words to this man? I think I would lose it. It's unfathomable what people can concoct in their perverted minds, most politicians.

[@markpeterson9540]

Isn't his name pronounced Koe Vic?????

[@MrJuvefrank]

I think that's the way Ron Kovic pronounces it. The interviewer doesn't respect Ron, so he deceives the public when he says, "Kovack."

[@DruzenjeSplit-nn2um]

Yes it is its Croation surname Kovic...not Kovac....

[@gemimercury3679]

Tom Cruise nailed it. 🏆

[@joepa6106]

Wow

[@riggingpots3453]

Where is this generation's Ron Kovac

[@johnaddis9428]

The phsycological manipulation of humanity democracy

[@thiagomacedo694]

Liberals thinking that sleepy joe is better is beyond me since Trump kept us out of war Biden will get us into another war Like Obama and bush did

[@tyslocksoftheweek1861]

What is the alternative? Give more power to the government? Communism? Fascism?Democracy is freedom and it needs to be defended and unfortunately that means having to fight. Unfortunately we don’t live in a cushy fantasy world that exists In your head where everything just exists at no cost. Women in Mexico are sending their children across the boarder with rapist and murderer coyotes to try and give them a chance to live in America. Go to a communist country and live there for a while. Everyone wants to come to the United States because we have freedom here and more and more people like you demonize democracy and you really should be ashamed of yourself for taking your own great freedom for granted you ungrateful shit