Today's Movie - "Born on the Fourth of July"
Info on Ron Kovic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Kovic
Interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaY6uK0vtGs
Info on the movie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_on_the_Fourth_of_July
Lesson Plans/Projects relating to themes dealt with in this movie:
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/template?page=home&src=static/teaching-tools/tchcived/12-14lp.htm
Resource List (Teaching about the Vietnam War)
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/war/ideas/vres.shtml
Statistics - Vietnam War:
http://www.vhfcn.org/stat.html
Related News Stories:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/nyregion/01veterans.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=war+veterans+services&st=nyt&oref=slogin
N.Y. Times Lesson - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Returning Veterans:
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20030311tuesday.html?searchpv=learning_lessons
N.Y. Times Lesson - Battling Memories of Vietnam:
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20010430monday.html?searchpv=learning_lessons
N.Y. Times Lesson - Why it is still difficult to talk about Vietnam:
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20000424monday.html?searchpv=learning_lessons
Time Magazine Article:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1811858,00.html?imw=Y
Answer the questions below in the comments section: (Spend some time looking at the resources above to help you answer these questions.)
1. What were the psychological ramifications for Vietnam veterans who were either treated as criminals or were virtually ignored (public apathy in general and/or poor or neglectful treatment by the V.A. for some) unlike veterans from other wars who were embraced by the country?
2. How did this type of treatment transform Ron Kovic's perception of the war?
3. Look for news stories focusing on the psychological effects of war. Look for news stories pertaining to the current war in Iraq. Read one of the stories you found. Relate what you learned from this story to what you learned about the psychological effects of war after watching "Born on the Fourth of July."
Examples of news stories (you may use one of these):
Neglectful treatment at Walter Reed:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701172.html
Video (Walter Reed)
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/player/player2.swf?whichMode=normal&justify=center&playad=yes&mediatype=stream&postdir=nation&postvideo=021707-1v&cuesfile=none&autoplay=yes&starttime=0&endtime=0&largerver=none&image=none&playlistxml=none
Walter Reed and Beyond (Links to slideshows, resources, archives, etc. This link included information on P.T.S.D., and other mental health disorders affecting veterans.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/walter-reed/index.html
Wikipedia (Walter Reed Neglect Scandal)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Reed_Army_Medical_Center_neglect_scandal
NPR coverage of Walter Reed, etc. (read or listen to stories):
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7725283
A Veteran's View of Walter Reed (read or listen to story):
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7584958
Military diagnosing more cases of P.T.S.D.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/27/AR2008052701512.html?nav=rss_health
NPR (Dealing with P.T.S.D. after war) Listen to story:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88678418
Virtual Reality for Returning Vets:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90619213&ft=1&f=1007
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Kovic
Interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaY6uK0vtGs
Info on the movie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_on_the_Fourth_of_July
Lesson Plans/Projects relating to themes dealt with in this movie:
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/template?page=home&src=static/teaching-tools/tchcived/12-14lp.htm
Resource List (Teaching about the Vietnam War)
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/war/ideas/vres.shtml
Statistics - Vietnam War:
http://www.vhfcn.org/stat.html
Related News Stories:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/nyregion/01veterans.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=war+veterans+services&st=nyt&oref=slogin
N.Y. Times Lesson - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Returning Veterans:
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20030311tuesday.html?searchpv=learning_lessons
N.Y. Times Lesson - Battling Memories of Vietnam:
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20010430monday.html?searchpv=learning_lessons
N.Y. Times Lesson - Why it is still difficult to talk about Vietnam:
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20000424monday.html?searchpv=learning_lessons
Time Magazine Article:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1811858,00.html?imw=Y
Answer the questions below in the comments section: (Spend some time looking at the resources above to help you answer these questions.)
1. What were the psychological ramifications for Vietnam veterans who were either treated as criminals or were virtually ignored (public apathy in general and/or poor or neglectful treatment by the V.A. for some) unlike veterans from other wars who were embraced by the country?
2. How did this type of treatment transform Ron Kovic's perception of the war?
3. Look for news stories focusing on the psychological effects of war. Look for news stories pertaining to the current war in Iraq. Read one of the stories you found. Relate what you learned from this story to what you learned about the psychological effects of war after watching "Born on the Fourth of July."
Examples of news stories (you may use one of these):
Neglectful treatment at Walter Reed:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701172.html
Video (Walter Reed)
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/player/player2.swf?whichMode=normal&justify=center&playad=yes&mediatype=stream&postdir=nation&postvideo=021707-1v&cuesfile=none&autoplay=yes&starttime=0&endtime=0&largerver=none&image=none&playlistxml=none
Walter Reed and Beyond (Links to slideshows, resources, archives, etc. This link included information on P.T.S.D., and other mental health disorders affecting veterans.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/walter-reed/index.html
Wikipedia (Walter Reed Neglect Scandal)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Reed_Army_Medical_Center_neglect_scandal
NPR coverage of Walter Reed, etc. (read or listen to stories):
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7725283
A Veteran's View of Walter Reed (read or listen to story):
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7584958
Military diagnosing more cases of P.T.S.D.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/27/AR2008052701512.html?nav=rss_health
NPR (Dealing with P.T.S.D. after war) Listen to story:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88678418
Virtual Reality for Returning Vets:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90619213&ft=1&f=1007
Comments
2. How did this type of treatment transform Ron Kovic's perception of the war? Ron seemed to display the latter, so much so that I thought it bordered on the paranoia that everyone hated him for being a soldier. He began (in the movie, I don’t know about real life) disrespecting parents, venting at people, even trying to start a fight even knowing he’d probably not win.
3. Look for news stories focusing on the psychological effects of war. Look for news stories pertaining to the current war in Iraq. Read one of the stories you found. Relate what you learned from this story to what you learned about the psychological effects of war after watching "Born on the Fourth of July." I’m writing mine on an article about helping soldiers coming back from Iraq, who are suffering from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), using virtual reality. It starts out talking about a man who said that the Gulf War never happened and how it inspired the movie The Matrix, and then starts into the real story. A psychologist called Skip Rizzo had been experimenting on getting the soldiers past their trauma using a virtual reality machine, easing them into the situation that caused said trauma. After a while, he adds in sounds (and experimenting with smells) to help the situation seem more real until the victim of PTSD doesn’t get “Incapacitated” by the thought anymore.
Link to source of #3: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/08/the-iraq-war-is-not-taking-place/?scp=4&sq=ptsd%20iraq&st=cse
How did these conditions compare with what you saw in the movie "Born on the Fourth of July."
? number two. I think he changed alot because of when he got hurt he was treated terribly at the hospital and he felt that he should have been respected because he was a vietnam vetern!
? number three. Alot of men after the war couldn't sleep so they got addicted to pills. some had terrible nightmares and would go days without sleeping. And ALOT of them became alcholics. basically almost everyone had a hard time after the war.
Did you get a chance to look at last week's Time Magazine. Time did a piece on the psychological toll the War in Iraq is having on some soldiers. The cover of the magazine is quite provocative. It is a picture of Prozac - half of the pill is camouflage.