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* PoliceBrutality: In every protest scene, the police attack the protesters with batons flying even if they're completely peaceful, and the Kent State incident (where four were shot) gets mentioned too. In the scene where Ron is arrested for distrupting the Republican National Convention, an undercover police officer throws him out of his wheelchair and beats him.

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* PoliceBrutality: In every protest scene, the police attack the protesters with batons flying even if they're completely peaceful, and the Kent State incident (where four were shot) gets mentioned too. In Most notably, in the scene where Ron is arrested for distrupting disrupting the 1972 Republican National Convention, an undercover police officer throws him out of his wheelchair and beats him.
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* PoliceBrutality: In every protest scene, the police attack the protesters with batons flying even if they're completely peaceful, and the Kent State incident (where four were shot) gets mentioned too.

to:

* PoliceBrutality: In every protest scene, the police attack the protesters with batons flying even if they're completely peaceful, and the Kent State incident (where four were shot) gets mentioned too. In the scene where Ron is arrested for distrupting the Republican National Convention, an undercover police officer throws him out of his wheelchair and beats him.
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* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the Fourth of July parade that Ron watches as a boy, some of the Korean War and WWII Vets on parade are paraplegics in wheelchairs or multiple amputees. Another flinches every time he hears a firecracker go off, probably due to PTSD. These vets show what turns out to be in store for Ron and several of his friends, and are a reminder on an otherwise happy day that war is not all glory.

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* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the Fourth of July parade that Ron watches as a boy, some of the Korean War and WWII Vets veterans on parade are paraplegics in wheelchairs or multiple amputees. Another flinches every time he hears a firecracker go off, probably due to PTSD. These vets show what turns out to be in store for Ron and several of his friends, and are a reminder on an otherwise happy day that war is not all glory.

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* EveryHelicopterIsAHuey
* Foreshadowing: In the Fourth of July parade that Ron watches as a boy, some of the Korean War and WWII Vets on parade are paraplegics in wheelchairs or multiple amputees. Another flinches every time he hears a firecracker go off, probably due to PTSD. These vets show what turns out to be in store for Ron and several of his friends, and are a reminder on an otherwise happy day that war is not all glory.

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* EveryHelicopterIsAHuey
* Foreshadowing:
{{Foreshadowing}}: In the Fourth of July parade that Ron watches as a boy, some of the Korean War and WWII Vets on parade are paraplegics in wheelchairs or multiple amputees. Another flinches every time he hears a firecracker go off, probably due to PTSD. These vets show what turns out to be in store for Ron and several of his friends, and are a reminder on an otherwise happy day that war is not all glory.
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* MoralEventHorizon: The undercover policeman who arrests Kovic throws him out of his wheelchair and beats him up. Certainly beating a paralyzed man was a new low even for him.
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* MoralEventHorizon: The undercover policeman who arrests Kovic throws him out of his wheelchair and beats him up. Certainly beating a paralyzed man was a new low even for him.

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* ClusterFBomb: Lots of them. There are a couple of scenes where that's almost the entire dialogue.

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* ClusterFBomb: Lots of them. There are a couple of scenes (such as Ron's drunken rant to his mother about how he's stuck in a living hell as a paraplegic) where that's almost the entire dialogue.dialogue.
* DeathByIrony: When Private Wilson joins Sergeant Ron Kovic's unit, Ron assures him that he'll be fine, joking that he's never seen anyone from Georgia die during his two tours. A few scenes later, Wilson is [[spoiler: shot to death by friendly fire, by none other than his unit commander Ron Kovic.]]
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* Foreshadowing: In the Fourth of July parade that Ron watches as a boy, some of the Korean War and WWII Vets on parade are paraplegics in wheelchairs or multiple amputees. Another flinches every time he hears a firecracker go off, probably due to PTSD. These vets show what turns out to be in store for Ron and several of his friends, and are a reminder on an otherwise happy day that war is not all glory.
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* SignificantBirthDate: Ron Kovic was born on July 4th, 1946; hence, the title of the book and film.

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* SignificantBirthDate: Ron Kovic Kovic, the all-American patriot, was born on July 4th, 1946; hence, the title of the book and film.
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Ron Kovic, a young man from Staten Island, goes off to fight in Vietnam. During his second tour of duty, Kovic accidentally kills a fellow soldier, Private Wilson, which deeply scars him emotionally. During a firefight, Kovic is permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Once he is discharged, Kovic comes home a changed man. He feels that his country hasn't done much of anything to help his fellow Vietnam veterans. Subsequently, he joins the anti-war movement. And goes to Mexico.

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Ron Kovic, a young man from Staten Long Island, goes off to fight in Vietnam. During his second tour of duty, Kovic accidentally kills a fellow soldier, Private Wilson, which deeply scars him emotionally. During a firefight, Kovic is permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Once he is discharged, Kovic comes home a changed man. He feels that his country hasn't done much of anything to help his fellow Vietnam veterans. Subsequently, he joins the anti-war movement. And goes to Mexico.
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* AccidentalMurder: Shortly after being deployed in 'Nam and in a firefight against the Vietcong, Ron ends up accidentally shooting Wilson, a young private, an act which had him becoming TheAtoner after returning to America and seeking Wilson's family for forgiveness.

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* OnlySaneMan: Stevie is the only one of Ron's friends who doesn't but into the macho Marine rhetoric or the fear mongering about communism and to see the Vietnam War as a terrible idea.

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* OnlySaneMan: Stevie is the only one of Ron's friends who doesn't but buy into the macho Marine rhetoric or the fear mongering about communism and to see the Vietnam War as a terrible idea.


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* PoliceBrutality: In every protest scene, the police attack the protesters with batons flying even if they're completely peaceful, and the Kent State incident (where four were shot) gets mentioned too.

Added: 551

Changed: 363

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* JerkassHasAPoint: Ron's friend Stevie is a selfish and insensitive sleaze but he was the only one of his friends and seemingly one of the few people in town not to buy into the macho military culture that caused Ron and others to enlist and end up paralyzed, traumatized or dead as well as to accurately see through the scaremongering about communism and Vietnam.



* OnlySaneMan: Stevie is the only one of Ron's friends who doesn't but into the macho Marine rhetoric or the fear mongering about communism and to see the Vietnam War as a terrible idea.



%%* WarIsHell: Very much so.

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%%* * WarIsGlorious: Ron and his friends believe this at the start, eager to fight in Vietnam and be part of history. They're [[WarIsHell disabused of this notion very quickly]].
*
WarIsHell: Very much so.
so. The few battle scenes we see make clear just how brutal war is and even worse is how the people Ron looks to for guidance are more interested in looking out for themselves.
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* PhysicalTherapyPlot: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted.]] After getting shot (which damages his spine) during a tour in Vietnam, Ron Kovic spends months at a poorly-ran Veterans' Hospital. He attempts to learn how to walk again with his crutches and braces, despite the doctors' warnings. He ends up having a bad fall that causes a fracture on his femur. He ends up back in bed, fighting with the staff over amputating his legs. When Ron finally comes back home, he spends the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
* ReturningWarVet: Ron Kovic.

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* PhysicalTherapyPlot: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted.]] After getting shot (which damages his spine) during a tour in Vietnam, Ron Kovic spends months at a poorly-ran poorly-run Veterans' Hospital. He attempts to learn how to walk again with his crutches and braces, despite the doctors' warnings. He ends up having a bad fall that causes a fracture on his femur. He ends up back in bed, fighting with the staff over amputating his legs. When Ron finally comes back home, he spends the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
* %%* ReturningWarVet: Ron Kovic.



* WarIsHell: Very much so.

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* %%* WarIsHell: Very much so.
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Added DiffLines:

* PhysicalTherapyPlot: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted.]] After getting shot (which damages his spine) during a tour in Vietnam, Ron Kovic spends months at a poorly-ran Veterans' Hospital. He attempts to learn how to walk again with his crutches and braces, despite the doctors' warnings. He ends up having a bad fall that causes a fracture on his femur. He ends up back in bed, fighting with the staff over amputating his legs. When Ron finally comes back home, he spends the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
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* AnachronicOrder: The book starts off in the middle of the Vietnam War, then jumps back to the author's childhood to early adulthood, then jumps to the period after he has been discharged, then jumps back to the period leading up to where he started the story in Vietnam.

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* AnachronicOrder: The book starts off in the middle of the Vietnam War, UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, then jumps back to the author's childhood to early adulthood, then jumps to the period after he has been discharged, then jumps back to the period leading up to where he started the story in Vietnam.
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* AdaptationExpansion: While the original book, written in 1974, ends with the 1972 Miami riots, the film adaption has Kovic speaking at the 1976 Democratic convention, as well as signing hie titular biography that is the film's namesake.

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* AdaptationExpansion: While the original book, written in 1974, ends with the 1972 Miami riots, the film adaption has Kovic speaking at the 1976 Democratic convention, as well as signing hie the titular biography that is the film's namesake.
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Added DiffLines:

* AnachronicOrder: The book starts off in the middle of the Vietnam War, then jumps back to the author's childhood to early adulthood, then jumps to the period after he has been discharged, then jumps back to the period leading up to where he started the story in Vietnam.
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The autobiography of Vietnam War Vet. Ron Kovic, ''Born on the Fourth of July'' was published in 1976. In 1989, the film version directed by Creator/OliverStone and starring Creator/TomCruise as Kovic was released. Stone won his second Oscar as director, his third overall, and Cruise got his first Oscar nomination. This is also his second film about UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, following ''{{Film/Platoon}}'' and followed by ''Film/HeavenAndEarth''. These three films are often said to form a "trilogy", although they merely share subject matter and do not take place in a shared continuity.

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The autobiography of Vietnam War Vet.[[TheVietnamVet Vet]]. Ron Kovic, ''Born on the Fourth of July'' was published in 1976. In 1989, the film version directed by Creator/OliverStone and starring Creator/TomCruise as Kovic was released. Stone won his second Oscar as director, his third overall, and Cruise got his first Oscar nomination. This is also his second film about UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, following ''{{Film/Platoon}}'' and followed by ''Film/HeavenAndEarth''. These three films are often said to form a "trilogy", although they merely share subject matter and do not take place in a shared continuity.

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