Page 6 June 16, 2016 TORRANCE TRIBUNE TerriAnn in Torrance Up Close With Ron Kovic And Hurricane Street Story and photos by TerriAnn Ferren Forty years ago, Vietnam Veteran Ron Kovic published his bestselling book, Born on the Fourth of July on a 42 dollar typewriter bought at Sears and Roebuck in Santa Monica, California. That book became a screenplay co-written with Oliver Stone, which went on to become a successful motion picture starring Tom Cruise. The film, Born on the Fourth of July, won four Golden Globe Awards, including best Motion Picture Drama, Best Screenplay (Kovic and Stone), Best Actor, Tom Cruise, and Best Director for Stone. Oliver Stone went on to win an Oscar for Directing, and the film was nominated in seven other categories. Born on the Fourth of July recounts Kovic’s story of his wounding in Vietnam, and dealing with his paralysis from the mid-chest down, all the while experiencing frustration at poorly equipped, overcrowded VA Hospitals, and a country in turmoil. Since the success of the book and film, Kovic has dedicated his life to veteran’s rights and peace. His second book, Around the World in Eight Days, written in 1984, is a fanciful romp through the author’s mind, painfully touched by war. I had the opportunity of meeting Ron Kovic on June 30, nine years ago at a mutual friend’s (Joyce and Bill Sharman’s) house in Torrance. Since we met, on that full moon evening beside the pool, our conversation hasn’t stopped. Our nation’s 240th birthday, on July 4th, 2016 is coming up in a few weeks, and it also marks Kovic’s 70th birthday. Also, on that same day, a special 40th Anniversary edition of Born on the Fourth of July, with a forward by Bruce Springsteen, will be released. In addition to that, Ron Kovic’s new book, Hurricane Street, hits the bookstores. Okay, yes, using my relationship with Ron Kovic, I sat down with him, asking him about his new book. His latest book, Hurricane Street recounts the true story of a group of severely disabled Vietnam Veterans recently returned home from the war, recovering in the Long Beach VA Hospital. This is a true story (some characters are a combination of several wounded veterans Kovic knew during that period) about a rag-tag group of men who stage a sit-in and hunger strike in February of 1974 for 17 days in Senator Alan Cranston’s office at the VA on Wilshire Boulevard, demanding better care for returning Vietnam Veterans. About three years ago, Kovic shared the story about what happened in 1974. When he first told me the story, frankly, I thought he was making it up as he went along. But no, every bit of what he told me was true. I told him he had to write it down in a book. This remarkable story is part of our country’s history and needs to be told. It was then that Kovic began seriously writing the story of Hurricane Street. I wondered why he chose the title Hurricane Street, and he explained to me that it was the street he was living on at the time. Frankly, it was there that he began his first attempt to write Born on the Fourth of July (which he eventually wrote a year later). But he interrupted his writing, and the story of Hurricane Street began to unfold. In early1973, Kovic ended up at the VA Hospital SCI (Spinal Cord Injury) ward with a bedsore, which meant he had to ‘do time’ lying in a prone position on a gurney in the hospital until it healed enough for him to return home. At this point, his frustration with the hospital and staff bubbled up and Kovic single-handedly started a movement called the Patient’s Worker’s Rights Committee. I asked Kovic, when he was a patient at the Long Beach VA in 1973, how soon did he realize there were problems. “I had already visited the hospital as an outpatient many times and was aware there were problems. I had come from the Bronx VA in New York, and hoped that conditions at the VA Hospital in California might be better,” Kovic said. But he found the conditions as early as 1971 were as bad, or worse. When he returned to the hospital in 1973, he hated the place and didn’t want to check in because he knew it had serious problems – just as the Bronx VA did, but for 93 days, he was in the SCI wards. He realized more than ever what was going on and would often scream into his pillow at night in frustration. It was then Kovic went to the Hospital PX and bought a cassette recorder and cassette tapes. Stuck on a gurney, face down for those 93 days, Kovic would move about the hospital using two canes, scooting himself up and down the hallways and onto the wards interviewing anyone willing to talk with him. While interviewing paralyzed veterans he learned to be careful, and it took three months of intense investigative reporting to gather and document the numerous complaints. Hurricane Street follows the story of how Kovic masterminds and executes the 17-day hunger strike and 19-day occupation, of Senator Alan Cranston’s office. He did this by turning his monthly disability check into creating the fledgling American Veteran’s Movement (AVM) complete with buttons, banners, and AVM flags, which he bought at the AAA Flag and Banner Store in Culver City. How did Kovic get disabled, wheel-chair bound, Veteran’s to Westwood for a sit-in and hunger strike? “I told the men on the ward that we had a meeting with Senator Cranston in his office at exactly 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 12, 1974 where we would be able to discuss our grievances. Afterwards, I promised lunch at a restaurant in Westwood, telling them all I would have them back at the VA for dinner that night,” Kovic said. Of course it didn’t work out that way at all. Knowing it would be difficult, if not impossible to get them to make the trip to Westwood, Kovic misled the men into thinking it would be an enjoyable day out away from the hospital. What transpired was a sit-in and hunger strike in Senator Cranston’s office, which began almost immediately - lasting seventeen days, garnering national attention, where some of the most severely disabled veterans risked their lives demanding a meeting with the head of the VA, Donald Johnson, and end what they teamed a National Veteran’s crisis. The story of Hurricane Street documents the strike and the day to day events that followed, as Kovic led his rag-tag band of colorful characters through an important event that changed the course of treatment of our veterans’ in VA hospitals nationwide, at the time and afterwards. Kovic continues to champion all veterans who need help. And Kovic commits himself to the needs and cries of today’s veterans returning from deployments from Iraq and Afghanistan, just as he did in 1974. Kovic will be speaking and reading from his latest book, Hurricane Street on July 6, at the Manhattan Beach Library, 1320 Highland Avenue, Manhattan Beach, at 7 p.m. I hope to see you all there! • School Music and Band Director Garry Lawrence. Olympics from page 2 Now program. A $25,000 grant went to the Catholic Youth Organization’s spring soccer program for middle schools. Since it began operations in 1985, it has invested $220 million in sports programs serving more than 3 million youth in the eight Southern California counties of Los Angeles, Imperial, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. The LA84 Foundation’s emphasis on coaching instruction means “kids aren’t just out there throwing a basketball around. They’re learning how to play basketball. They’re developing skills – hopefully, lifelong skills and, more important, lifetime habits,” said LAUSD Assistant Superintendent Al Cortes with the Beyond the Bell program, which is a foundation favorite. Los Angeles became a model for Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996), which orchestrated successful Games and revitalized their urban centers with smart planning and design. Los Angeles is the U.S. Olympic Committee’s choice to host the Summer Games again in 2024. Hoping to join London as the only threetime host city for the Games, Los Angeles isn’t considered a favorite despite its track record of hosting the 1932 and 1984 Olympiads. Boston was the U.S. Olympic’s Committee’s first choice for the 2024 Games before city leaders withdrew their bid. Paris, Rome and Hamburg, Germany, also submitted bids to the International Olympic Committee. The IOC’s decision is still a year away. “You can’t overemphasize the importance of experience,” USOC Chief Executive Scott Blackmun said in support of Los Angeles’ bid. “They’ve got strong venues. They’ve got incredibly strong public support.” The LA84 Foundation is open to grant requests from any youth sports organization in Southern California. A list of recent grant recipients can be viewed at the foundation’s website to see what it supports. Read through the grant guidelines, and direct any questions about the process to the foundation’s program officers, Pilar Diaz (pdiaz@la84.org) or Nolan Ortiz (nortiz@ la84.org). The LA84 Foundation also operates the largest sports research library in North America from its headquarters, 2141 W. Adams Blvd. A collection of historic sport art and artifacts is kept on display, including items from the Helms Athletic Foundation Sports Halls of Fame. Visits are by appointment only, which can be made at the foundation’s web site. •
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