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Ron Kovic
Ron Kovic at an anti-war rally in Los Angeles, California on October 12, 2007.
Born	July 4, 1946 (1946-07-04) (age 65) Ladysmith, Wisconsin, USA
Occupation	Political and peace activist, author

Ronald Lawrence Kovic (born July 4, 1946) is an anti-war activist, veteran and writer who was paralyzed in the Vietnam War. He is best known as the author of the memoir Born on the Fourth of July, which was made into an Academy Award–winning movie directed by Oliver Stone, with Tom Cruise playing Kovic. Kovic received the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay on January 20, 1990, exactly 22 years to the day that he was wounded in Vietnam. Ron Kovic was also nominated for an Academy Award for best screen play.^[1] Bruce Springsteen wrote the song "Shut Out The Light" after reading Kovic's memoir and then meeting him. Tom Paxton, the folk singer/political activist, wrote the song "Born on the Fourth of July", which is on his "New Songs from the Briarpatch" album. Academy Award winning actress Jane Fonda has stated that Ron Kovic's story was the inspiration for her film Coming Home.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Kovic was born in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, and was raised in Massapequa, New York, in a Roman Catholic household. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" speech, he joined the United States Marine Corps after high school in September 1964 and was assigned to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, for twelve weeks of intensive recruit training. He was awarded the rank of Private First Class out of boot camp and became the push-up champion of his battalion. Kovic was then sent to the Infantry Training Regiment at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, for advanced combat training. He returned home to Massapequa in December 1964, just in time for Christmas. After several weeks leave Kovic was assigned to the Marine Corps Barracks at Norfolk, Virginia, where he attended radio school and learned communication skills, including the International Morse Code. He was next assigned to the Second Field Artillery Battalion, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Service in Vietnam and injury[link]

He volunteered for his first tour of duty and was deployed to Vietnam in December 1965 as a member of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines H&S Company. In June 1966, he volunteered for First Reconnaissance Battalion where he participated in 22 long range reconnaissance patrols in enemy territory. He returned home on January 15, 1967 after a 13 month tour of duty, and was assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing at Cherry Point, North Carolina. Several months later he volunteered to return to Vietnam a second time.

He is a decorated U.S. Marine who served two tours of duty in the Vietnam War, where he was awarded the Bronze Star with "V" device for valor and the Purple Heart. In October 1967, Kovic accidentally shot and killed one of his Marines when a NVA unit ambushed him and his men near a village along the Cua Viet River. Kovic claimed it was an accident and no one has ever disputed his claim. On January 20, 1968, while leading an attack on a village just north of the Cua Viet River in the Demilitarized Zone, he was shot while leading his squad across an open area. He was shot first in the right foot, which blew out the back of his heel, then again through the right shoulder, suffering a collapsed lung and a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the chest down. The first Marine that tried to save him was shot through the heart and killed, then a second Marine carried Kovic to safety through heavy enemy fire (Kovic learned years later that this second Marine was killed later that afternoon). He then spent a week in an intensive care ward in Da Nang.

Activism[link]

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Kovic became one of the best-known peace activists among the veterans of the war and has been arrested for political protest 12 times. He attended his first peace demonstration soon after the Kent State shootings in May 1970, and gave his first speech against the war at Levittown Memorial High School in Levittown, Long Island, New York that same spring. Kovic's speech that day was interrupted by a bomb threat and the auditorium cleared. Undeterred, Kovic continued speaking to students from the school's football grandstands. His first arrest was during an anti-Vietnam War demonstration at an Orange County, California draft board in the spring of 1971 when he refused to leave the office of the draft board explaining to a representative that by sending young men to Vietnam they were inadvertently, "condemning them to their death," or to be wounded and maimed like himself in a war that he had come to believe was, "immoral and made no sense." He was told that if he did not leave the draft board immediately he would be arrested. Kovic refused to leave and was taken away by police. In a new introduction to his book, Born on the Fourth of July, written in March 2005, Kovic stated, "I wanted people to understand. I wanted to share with them as nakedly and openly and intimately as possible what I had gone through, what I had endured. I wanted them to know what it really meant to be in a war—to be shot and wounded, to be fighting for my life on the intensive care ward—not the myth we had grown up believing. I wanted people to know about the hospitals and the enema room, about why I had become opposed to the war, why I had grown more and more committed to peace and nonviolence. I had been beaten by the police and arrested twelve times for protesting the war and I had spent many nights in jail in my wheelchair. I had been called a Communist and a traitor, simply for trying to tell the truth about what had happened in that war, but I refused to be intimidated." In early 1989, he presented Tom Cruise with his Bronze Star medal on the final day of filming Born on the Fourth of July explaining to the actor that he was giving him the award as a gift for his "courageous portrayal of the true horrors of war." Time Magazine reported that Oliver Stone said, "He gave it to Tom for bravery for having gone through this experience in hell as much as any person can without actually having been there."

In 1974, Kovic led a group of disabled Vietnam War veterans in wheelchairs on a 17-day hunger strike inside the Los Angeles office of Senator Alan Cranston. The veterans protested the "poor treatment in America's Veterans Hospitals" and demanded better treatment for returning veterans, a full investigation of all Veterans Affairs (V.A.) facilities, and a face-to-face meeting with head of the V.A. Donald E. Johnson. The strike continued to escalate until Johnson finally agreed to fly out from Washington, D.C., and meet with the veterans. The hunger strike ended soon after that. Several months later Johnson resigned. In late August 1974 Kovic traveled to Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he spent a week in the Catholic strong hold of, "Turf Lodge," interviewing both political activists and residents. In the spring of 1975 Kovic, photojournalist Loretta Smith, and author Richard Boyle traveled to cover the Cambodian Civil War as correspondents for the Pacific News Service.^{[citation needed]}

Kovic was a speaker at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, seconding the nomination of draft resister Fritz Efaw for Vice President of the United States. On July 12, 1977 Kovic was arrested with 191 students and supporters during the Gym protests at Kent State University. In 1988 Ron Kovic was a Jesse Jackson delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1990 to 1991, Kovic took part in several anti-war demonstrations against the first Gulf War, which occurred not long after the release of his biographical film. In early May 1999, following the US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade Yougoslavia, Kovic met with China's ambassador to the United States Li Zhaoxing at the Chinese embassy in Washington D.C. to express his most sincere condolences and present the ambassador and his staff with two dozen red roses. He is currently an outspoken critic of the Iraq War. In November 2003, he joined protests in London against the visit of George W. Bush. He was the guest of honor at a reception held for British peacemakers at London's city hall by Mayor Ken Livingstone. The following day, he led a march of several hundred thousand demonstrators on Trafalgar Square, where a huge rally was held protesting the visit of George W. Bush and the war in Iraq. Kovic attended the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. On Sunday, August 24, 2008, the day before the convention began, Kovic spoke, then led thousands in a march against the war which ended with him saying "In the city of Denver. We got welcomed home".^[2]

In March 2007, Kovic checked into the Ernest Bors Spinal Cord Injury ward of the Veterans Administration Hospital in Long Beach, California, for an undisclosed illness.

Recent activity[link]

On January 20, 2008, Kovic observed his 40th anniversary of having been shot and paralyzed in the Vietnam War. Kovic, in March 2005, said: "The scar will always be there, a living reminder of that war, but it has also become something beautiful now, something of faith and hope and love. I have been given the opportunity to move through that dark night of the soul to a new shore, to gain an understanding, a knowledge, and entirely different vision. I now believe I have suffered for a reason and in many ways I have found that reason in my commitment to peace and nonviolence. My life has been a blessing in disguise, even with the pain and great difficulty that my physical disability continues to bring. It is a blessing to speak on behalf of peace, to be able to reach such a great number of people."

On April 8, 2009 Kovic joined British MP and activist George Galloway to launch Viva Palestina USA, an American branch of Viva Palestina. Kovic will co-lead with Mr. Galloway a humanitarian relief convoy to the Gaza Strip in early July 2009. On December 6, 2009 Kovic spoke honoring Bruce Springsteen at the 32nd annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C. On December 22, 2009 Ron Kovic, Oliver Stone, and friends celebrated the 20th anniversary of the 1989 film release of Born on the Fourth of July at a dinner party in Torrance, California. In April 2010 Ron Kovic traveled to Rome Italy as a member of the Council for Dignity, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation. Between April 19-26 Kovic attended meetings at Rome's City Hall with other international peace activists, diplomats and academics, to discuss the need for conflict resolution and other more peaceful, nonviolent alternatives to war as a way of solving the worlds many conflicts. On April 21, 2010, Ron Kovic spoke of his journey from war to peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation before Rome's mayor Gianni Alemanno, and other civic leaders at Rome's Ara Pacis (Altar of Augustan Peace) commissioned by the Roman Senate 4 July- 13 BC.

Kovic lives in Redondo Beach, California, where he writes, paints, plays the piano, and gardens. He has never married. He plans to begin writing the long-awaited sequel to his book, Born on The Fourth of July, sometime in the spring of 2010.^{[citation needed]}

Films[link]

• 1973 - Operation Last Patrol. Directed by Frank Cavestani and Catherine Leroy.
• 1989 - Born on the Fourth of July. Directed by Oliver Stone.

Interviewed:

• 2005 - One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern. Directed by Stephen Vittoria.
• 2006 - The U.S. vs. John Lennon. Directed by David Leaf & John Scheinfeld.

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	United States Marine Corps portal

• Born on the Fourth of July
• S. Brian Willson
• Vietnam Veterans Against the War

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ron Kovic

• Kovic, Ron. "Born on the Fourth of July: The Long Journey Home", AlterNet, posted June 13, 2005.
• "Veterans Speak Out", truthout.org, video, November 14, 2005.
• Gilmer, Tim. "Ron Kovic Reborn", profile from the Independent Media Institute, June 20, 2003.
• CNN interview with Kovic: "Peace movement will be largest ever", January 17, 2003.
• "Ron Kovic Vietnam Veteran", Heroism Project profile.
• Kovic, Ron. "The Forgotten Wounded of Iraq", TruthDig.com, January 18, 2006.
• Kovic, Ron. "Breaking the Silence of the Night", TruthDig.com, October 10, 2006.
• Fanucci, Kenneth. "It's All Coming Together For Ron Kovic", S.F. Examiner, June 25, 1978.
• Eterovich, Adam S. "Croatians in California, 1849-1999", Ragusan Press, San Carlos, CA, 2000, p 600, ISBN 0-918660-98-X

Randi Rhodes
Randi Rhodes (2008)
Born	Randi Bueten (1959-01-28) January 28, 1959 (age 53) Brooklyn, New York
Nationality	USA
Occupation	radio broadcaster
Known for	Randi Rhodes Show

This article's citation style may be unclear. The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of citation, footnoting, or external linking. (September 2009)

Randi Rhodes (born Randi Bueten; January 28, 1959) is an American progressive talk radio personality, formerly featured on Air America Radio and Nova M Radio and now on Premiere Radio Networks. Her eponymous program, The Randi Rhodes Show, airs live Monday through Friday from 3 pm to 6 pm Eastern Time.

Early life[link]

Rhodes was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in a Jewish family^[1] in both Brooklyn and the Queens borough of New York City. Her father was a mechanical engineer and World War II veteran, and her mother was a dress shop worker; they divorced by the time Rhodes was 15.^[2] Rhodes has described her adolescence as mischievous and cites it as why she enlisted in the United States Air Force.^[2][3] Her married name is Randi Robertson;^[4] Rhodes is a stage name chosen to honor Ozzy Osbourne's guitar player Randy Rhoads, whom Rhodes describes as "a consummate professional ... but he always practiced. I mean, he practiced eight hours a day. He lived to be the best."^[5]

Military experience[link]

Rhodes enlisted in the United States Air Force and worked stateside at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey as an aircraft mechanic, achieving the rank of Airman First Class. She served two years in the Air Force and one year in the reserves. Rhodes went through basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. From there she went to Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas and was being trained as a flight engineer. First she became an aircraft mechanic. After she transferred to what would be her permanent station in New Jersey she decided to leave the active-duty Air Force through the Palace Chase program and was honorably discharged after three years service (two active duty and one reserve) at the age of 21.^[5] In the 1980 presidential election, Rhodes voted for Republican candidate Ronald Reagan, explaining: "I was young and stupid and sick of the gas lines," but never voted Republican again.^[2]

Radio career[link]

Early work[link]

Rhodes' radio career began in Seminole, Texas at a country music station. Her next job was in a larger market, Mobile, Alabama. While in Mobile, she was paired briefly with a male DJ (also named Randy) for the "Randy and Randi" morning show. This was her first experience with extemporaneous dialogue other than reading cue cards between records. Rhodes used this experience as a spring-board to larger markets. In the late 1980s, she was hired out of that medium market directly to New York by The Apple WAPP-FM, owned at the time by Doubleday Broadcasting. While working for The Apple, she took the name "Randi Rhodes," having previously used "Randi St. John."^[6][7]

While teaming with host Perry Stone at Milwaukee's WQFM, Rhodes was suspended in 1987 when their program offended the gay community and led several businesses to cancel ads.^[8]

In late September 1992, Rhodes started on WIOD in Miami, working the 8P-11P night shift.

The Miami Herald described her as "a chain-smoking bottle blond,...part Joan Rivers, part shock jock Howard Stern and part Saturday Night Live's 'Coffee Talk' lady. But mostly, she's her rude, crude, loud, brazen, gleeful self."^{[citation needed]}

Air America Radio[link]

Randi Rhodes broadcasts from the Democratic National Convention in 2008.

In 2004, Rhodes joined Air America Radio, bringing The Randi Rhodes Show to a national audience for the first time. Rhodes' show on Air America consisted principally of monologue and listener calls, with a short comedic segment at the beginning of the show's second and third hours. Only occasionally did she do interviews. The show was punctuated with musical interludes, including the show's unofficial theme song, Pain by Stereomud. On Fridays, Rhodes opened the show with the song "Bounce Your Boobies" by Rusty Warren. With her distinctive Brooklyn-Queens accent, she would take calls spanning the political spectrum, aggressively promoting her views.

In 2007, Rhodes was recognized by the radio industry's well known periodical, Talkers Magazine as Woman of the Year.^[9]

Departure from Air America[link]

Air America suspended Rhodes from the network on April 3, 2008 after an Air America affiliate, KKGN, event in San Francisco, California, where Rhodes said on March 22, 2008:

"Geraldine Ferraro turned out to be the David Duke in drag ... What a whore Geraldine Ferraro is! She's such a fucking whore! I wanna see her have to stand beside her husband at one of those mandatory 'I have sinned against you; I'm a whore' kind of a press conference. Mr. Ferraro should have to stand next to his whore of a wife ... Hillary is a big fucking whore, too. You know why she's a big fucking whore? Because her deal is always, 'Read the fine print, asshole!'"

When a video of the event was made public the following week, Air America suspended her for "inappropriate comments". The event was billed as "An Evening with Randi Rhodes" and promoted on KKGN's website.^[10]

Geraldine Ferraro called for the termination of Rhodes when the personal attacks directed towards her and Clinton began circulating through the media.^[11]

Rhodes claimed that Air America breached its contract with her, and questioned the network's commitment to free speech.^[12][13][14]

On April 10, 2008, Rhodes went on Larry King Live to clarify her suspension from the network. Later that evening, she conducted an interview on The Mike Malloy Show in which Rhodes went into greater detail concerning the suspension. Air America had recently been sold. The new owner read her existing contract and wanted to amend two details: Rhodes' right to terminate at any time, and a clause that said Air America could not terminate Rhodes for any reason without paying her. Rhodes refused to amend the contract, which she said took "seven months to negotiate with the previous owners."

Air America suspended her until a settlement could be reached concerning the contract which was still in place and had an additional year to run. In the interim, Air America management decided to conduct market research to assess her value to the company. According to Rhodes, it was Air America who released the press release that called attention to the video of her performance in San Francisco simply as a way to gauge her audience loyalty and her value to the network. According to Rhodes, Air America soon asked her to return to the air, with an offer of more money but still holding to the condition that she had to change her contract "in order to get her mic back". Rhodes refused and left Air America because of the stalemate over the new contract.^[15]

Mark Green, President of Air America Radio, said, "Her abusive, obscene comments obviously crossed the line of what talent at a media company could say," and added that the comments "were in the Imus league," referring to radio host Don Imus, who was fired by CBS in 2007 after making racial remarks about female basketball players. According to a published account, Green said the company had asked Rhodes to apologize for the remarks. In the same account, Rhodes reportedly said that she did not refuse to apologize for the comment.^[16]

Air America Media informed Rhodes on April 9 that the contract was terminated. Air America president Mark Green issued a statement wishing Rhodes well, and thanking her for her work with Air America. Meanwhile, KKGN announced on its website that The Randi Rhodes Show would return to Green 960 as of April 14, 2008.^[16]

Air America also terminated access to The Randi Rhodes Show web site, redirecting it to a statement by the chairman and president on the Air America site. Rhodes stated at 3:42pm, EDT on April 14 that she, not Air America, owns the URL name. The message board was reinstated on May 5, 2008.

Nova M Radio[link]

On April 10, 2008, Nova M Radio announced Rhodes would join its radio network, which also syndicated The Mike Malloy Show. During the show's first Nova M broadcast on April 14, 2008, Rhodes went into detail concerning the events surrounding her suspension. She described what happened as "a great radio story and I've heard some great radio stories in my day."^[17] The Randi Rhodes show returned to the airwaves on April 21, 2008 on 23 affiliate stations,^[18] compared to Air America's 60 affiliates.^[19] As of May 5, 2008, the show was heard on 28 stations, including XM 167.

On her program's inaugural Nova M Radio broadcast she also said that she had objected to Air America's new owners demanding her contract be amended to remove her walk-away clause. She said her salary was also an issue.^[20]

Rhodes' last show on Nova M was February 3, 2009. Political commentator and one-time Congressional candidate Nancy Skinner hosted the show in Rhodes' absence beginning February 5. Following this, Anita Drobny of Nova M Radio posted a message on the Nova M site saying that they were unable to disclose details of what was going on due to Rhodes' having complete control of the show and that Rhodes "now has to make her decisions as to what she must do with her career".^[21] Ms. Drobny also said, "People are saying it's about money. It's not about money at all. I just could not fulfill one of her requirements." She did, however, note the financial impact of Rhodes' departure: "I looked at [our] site, and I see that because Randi Rhodes isn't on, there are so many people leaving the Founders Club [which involved a fee that was paid to Nova M]. And you can't operate without people's participation."^[22] Additionally, Rhodes' own website was taken down and replaced with a letter from Rhodes to her supporters stating that the entire situation was within Nova M's control and any implication that Rhodes was responsible for the disruption was false, and that Rhodes' show would be "seeking a new home" in light of those developments.^[23]

According to an individual familiar with the issue, Nova M agreed to provide certain standard legal protections for the popular radio host, but Rhodes had to leave the air and Nova M following a discovery that Nova had not lived up to its contractual promise. Subsequently, on February 19, 2009, Nova M Radio announced that it would be filing for bankruptcy liquidation, but no such filing has yet occurred.^[24] The Nova M Radio website was taken down in April 2009.

Premiere Radio Networks[link]

On April 23, 2009, Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, announced the addition of Randi Rhodes to their syndicated lineup with her show returning to airways across the country May 11, 2009.^[25]

Journalistic standards[link]

Rhodes regularly asserts she is not a journalist, but does analyze and comment on news reports with a journalistic eye. She proclaims herself to be a stickler for facts, and also claims to hold to many of the basic tenets of journalism ethics and standards such as corroboration, attribution and truthfulness. She offers citations to a wide array of newspapers, magazines, websites, government documents and radio/television reports, both on her talk show and in the "Homework" section of her official website. She often admonishes her listeners to not believe her, or anything else they hear on talk radio, but to do their own research and discover the facts for themselves. Rhodes takes on the roles of editorialist, satirist, comedian and news analyst.^[26] She has described herself as an activist for accountability and standards in the media, and has spoken at congressional hearings about creating a framework of national standards for what can be labeled news.

Comedic style[link]

Rhodes uses humor in her discussion of news and events and makes frequent use of sound effects and sound bites including the voices of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Segments often open with a "bit" such as "Today's Talking Point from the Official Guide to Being a Good Republican" or a segment of "BS News." Some of her trademark sound effects are the cherry pop for first-time callers, the bong bubbles, the Howard Dean scream, and various bells and buzzers for indications of how she feels about any particular subject. Music relevant to her current topic of discussion is also featured as she goes to, and comes back from commercial breaks. "Bounce Your Boobies," by cabaret singer Rusty Warren, is played following the show's opening on Fridays, with some commentary and sound bites during the song. Her show features comedians such as Barry Crimmins and Randy Credico.

Family[link]

In 1994 Rhodes married Jim Robertson, an independent television producer and cameraman. They had been together for ten years prior to marrying. Rhodes and Robertson divorced in April 2004 but have remained friends. Rhodes took the name Robertson when she married, but continued to use her professionally known name on the air.

In 1998, Rhodes' sister Ellen died of breast cancer at age 44. Rhodes and Robertson raised Ellen's daughter Jessica as their own.^[27][28]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• The Big Encyclopedia of Republican Hypocrites, (2006) (ISBN 1-4013-5248-0)
• Interview with Randi Rhodes. (Cover story) Talkers magazine, December 2005/January 2006, pp. 16, 34, 40, 44.

External links[link]

United States Air Force portal

• Official Randi Rhodes website
• Randi Rhodes archives - audio archives
• Transcript of Randi Rhodes appearance on Larry King Live
• Campaign contribution search (individual contributions of $200 or more made since 1977): Randi Rhodes, NewsMeat.com
• Randi Rhodes at the Internet Movie Database

Press[link]

• C-SPAN Q&A interview with Rhodes, December 18, 2005
• They Look Nothing Like Rush Limbaugh; Susan Brenna, New York Times; November 13, 2005.
• South Florida Radio History: Randi Rhodes, Goddess of Gab: Wicked humor of WJNO's newest radio personality woos Treasure Coast'; Lana Sumpter, Port St. Lucie Tribune and Fort Pierce Tribune.
• Talk-show host Randi Rhodes joined a new liberal network hoping to advance her career while shaking up this election season; Paula Span, Washington Post Magazine; September 12, 2004.
• The Liberal Rush Limbaugh? (follow up article); Paula Span, Washington Post Magazine; (September 13, 2004).
• Transcript and video of Randi Rhodes on the Larry King Live show, May 12, 2006.
• Randi Rhodes is the Victim of a Violent Attack 10/14/2007
• Randi Rhodes Suspended by Air America Radio for "Ad Hominem" Comments Made Regarding Hillary Clinton, Air America Radio, April 3, 2008
• Air America Host Randi Rhodes Suspended For Calling Hillary A "Big F*****g Whore" (with video), Huffington Post, April 3, 2008