Quotes from Ron Kovic

I am the living death, a Memorial Day on wheels. I am your Yankee Doodle Dandy, your John Wayne come home, your Fourth of July firecracker exploding in the grave.

I want a woman, Dad. I want somebody to love me. I wanna to be free again. I wanna walk in the backyard on the grass. I wanna put my bare feet in the ocean. I wanna run along the sand and feel it on my feet. I wanna stand up in the shower with the hot water streaming down my legs, in the morning...I wanna explode, Dad. I wanna get out of this fucking body I'm in. I wanna be a man again...I just wanna be a man again.

No one will ever again by my enemy, no matter how hard they try to frighten and intimidate me. No government will ever teach me to hate another human being.

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People say that if you don't love America, then get the hell out. Well, I love America.

I have come to believe there is nothing in the lives of human beings more terrifying than war and nothing more important than for those of us who have experienced it to share its awful truth.

War is not the answer. Violence is not the solution. A more peaceful world is possible.

I served two tours of duty in Vietnam. I won the Bronze Star. I won the Purple Heart.