Ron Kovic: "Raise Your Voices, Protest, Stop These Wars"

Ron Kovic was a United States Marine Corps infantry sergeant who was shot and paralyzed from the mid-chest down on January 20, 1968, during his second tour of duty in Vietnam. He has lived with the wounds of that war for over 40 years. At this stage of his life, he desperately wants as many soldiers and civilians to join him, to begin a critical new phase in the growing anti-war movement. Many of our soldiers have already served multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and have been "coming home" for almost 10 years. Those who served have begun to question that service live with the physical and emotional scars of war, and live with these wounds every day, feeling their weight and pain every morning. You have walked and wheeled through the streets of our country, while watching stare at us, as they wonder why! Since we are the reminders of the exorbitant cost of our service, we must struggle every day to make others understand, yet endure for the sake of others. Like many Americans who served in Vietnam, and those now serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, and who had believed the lies of our politicians, Ron Kovic believed the lies of our government. It is time to deflate these misunderstandings, and join the rest of our world.