Ron Kovic - Duh Ratnika

[Scene: Rain taps against a metal roof. Solid Snake sits alone in a dimly lit barracks, cleaning his SOCOM pistol. He pauses, eyes distant, and speaks into his codec.]

Solid Snake (gravelly, thoughtful tone):
You ever hear of Ron Kovic?

Vietnam. 1968. Marine. Patriot. He went over there thinking he was fighting for freedom—just like the rest of us. Took a bullet to the spine. Came home in a wheelchair. Paralyzed. But that wasn’t the end of his war. No… that was just the beginning.

Kovic wrote Born on the Fourth of July. Not a war story in the traditional sense. It's about betrayal. Disillusionment. The price you pay when your government treats soldiers like expendable assets. He volunteered out of love for his country, and it damn near killed him. When he came back, that same country turned its back on him.

Kinda reminds me of FOXHOUND. Of Big Boss. Of how we were trained to be weapons… but once we broke or questioned the mission, they threw us out like defective gear.

Kovic didn’t stay silent. He fought back with his voice, his truth. That takes more courage than crawling through a minefield.

War creates heroes, but it also creates ghosts. Wounded bodies, broken minds… and sometimes, men who find redemption not by pulling the trigger—but by dropping the rifle and telling the truth.

Ron Kovic’s not just a warrior. He’s what we should all hope to be when the fighting’s done:
Awake. Alive. Unafraid to speak.

[Snake sighs. Lights a cigarette. The rain continues.]

Solid Snake:
War’s not the answer. It’s the question. And men like Kovic… they remind us we’ve been answering it wrong.