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Ron Kovic
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Hurricane Street Kindle Edition

by Ron Kovic (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 out of 5 stars 28 ratings
The author of Born on the Fourth of July delivers “a harrowing, poignant telling of the American Veteran’s Movement and its members’ struggles” (Manhattan Book Review).

In the spring of 1974, as the last American troops were being pulled out of Vietnam, Ron Kovic and a small group of other severely injured veterans in a California VA hospital launched the American Veterans Movement. In a phenomenal feat of political organizing, Kovic corralled his fellow AVM members into staging a sit-in, and then a hunger strike, in the Los Angeles office of Senator Alan Cranston, demanding better treatment of injured and disabled veterans.

This was a short-lived and chaotic but ultimately successful movement to improve the deplorable conditions in VA hospitals across the country. Hurricane Street is their story—one that resonates deeply today—told by Kovic in the passionate and brutally honest style that led to over one million sales of Born on the Fourth of July.

“Another raw exposé on the cost of war . . . The book is an unflinching anti-war declaration, written in blood and the sweat of too many haunted nights by a Vietnam Marine Corps sergeant who later opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.” —Los Angeles Times

“A deeply moving account of the struggle of Vietnam veterans to hold politicians accountable to the maimed warriors they sent into harm’s way and then abandoned.” —Robert Scheer, author of They Know Everything About You

“An impassioned and timely memoir about the 1974 American Veterans Movement that will strike a chord with veterans and their families today.” —Publishers Weekly, Top 10 Pick for Spring 2016
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  1. Print length
    242 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Akashic Books
  4. Publication date
    June 13, 2016
  5. File size
    7.0 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Kovic has also penned a new book, Hurricane Street, that will be released on July 4th. The new book recounts how in 1974, the author and other injured veterans staged a sit-in and hunger strike to demand better treatment for vets."
― Rolling Stone

"Kovic, a Vietnam veteran paralyzed from the waist down and the author of the seminal war memoir Born on the Fourth of July (1976), looks back to the spring of 1974, when he led a two-week hunger strike in the Los Angeles office of U.S. Senator Alan Cranston . . . Kovic’s personal tale is also a timely topical book as veterans’ mental and physical health care remain woefully insufficient."
― Booklist

"Hurricane Street . . . [is] another raw expose on the cost of war. The book, which he calls a prequel, drills deep into the 17-day drama of a 1974 sit-in and hunger strike staged by Kovic and a band of fellow wounded veterans who took the federal building on Wilshire Boulevard by storm . . . The book is an unflinching anti-war declaration, written in blood and the sweat of too many haunted nights by a Vietnam Marine Corps sergeant who later opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."
― Los Angeles Times

"The author of Born on the Fourth of July (1976) recounts the brief 1974 movement he initiated to change how Veterans Affairs hospitals cared for wounded soldiers . . . The great strength of this book is that the author never minces words. With devastating candor, he memorializes a short-lived but important movement and the men who made it happen. Sobering reflections on past treatment of America’s injured war veterans."
― Kirkus Reviews

"Renowned antiwar activist Kovic, a Vietnam veteran, delivers a powerful memoir detailing his organization of the American Veterans Movement (AVM) during the mid-1970s . . . This chronicle will resonate with those interested in the all-too-human effects of war and the challenges faced by our wounded warriors."
― Library Journal

About the Author

Ronald Lawrence Kovic is an American anti-war activist, writer, and former United States Marine Corps sergeant, who was wounded and paralyzed in the Vietnam War.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01G12DH6O
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Akashic Books (June 13, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 13, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 7.0 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 242 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 28 ratings

About the author

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Ron Kovic

Ron Kovic

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RON KOVIC served two tours of duty during the Vietnam War. He was paralyzed from his chest down in combat in 1968 and has been in a wheelchair ever since. Along with Oliver Stone, Kovic was the coscreenwriter of the 1989 Academy Award–winning film based on Kovic’s best-selling memoir Born on the Fourth of July (starring Tom Cruise as Kovic). Hurricane Street is his latest memoir.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
28 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Luv 2 read
    5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended!
    Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Once again, Ron Kovic describes the tragedy and trauma of the Vietnam War era truthfully. His anger and frustration stand in stark contrast to the Pentagon's multi-million dollar "50th Anniversary Commemoration" of the Vietnam War. Highly recommended!
    One person found this helpful
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  • JoAnn C DenBeste
    5.0 out of 5 stars book
    Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    great
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  • william collopy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Ron Kovic’s excellent Hurricane Street centers on a February 1974
    Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2017
    Ron Kovic’s excellent Hurricane Street centers on a February 1974, 17 day sit in and hunger strike to protest inadequate treatment of severely disabled military veterans. As a Marine sergeant serving near the Demilitarized Zone in Viet Nam, Kovic was wounded by enemy fire on January 20, 1968 resulting in complete paralysis from his mid chest down. This compelling book goes beyond Kovic’s injury and a single 1974 act of civil disobedience; rather, it registers on multiple levels.

    Hurricane Street unquestionably sensitizes the reader to the plight of wounded veterans. Throughout the narrative, we hear Kovic’s and his fellow veterans’ voices as they talk about their injuries in ways that transcend statistics and clinical descriptions. What we hear is how these men feel both physically and emotionally, while we simultaneously witness their courage. I found it difficult to read the book without taking a break, if only to get off the couch and go to the bathroom to wipe tears from my face. At one such point, I was reminded that Kovic and countless others so injured can’t do that simple act – get off the couch and leave the room – without assistance or great effort. And these men weren’t injured in automobile accidents or workplace mishaps, but as a result of a deliberate act, in fact, a national policy . . . to prosecute a war in Southeast Asia. In that sense, Hurricane Street can be fairly characterized as a book that questions that war.

    Kovic’s generation and others who know something about U.S. history will recall that President Lyndon B. Johnson sought a “Great Society” for America, a nation that would shore up the sick, the poor, and the vulnerable. But in a variation of the guns versus butter dichotomy, Johnson’s decision to escalate the Viet Nam War blunted his ambitious social programs. The Veterans Administration (VA), charged with the care of the nation’s military veterans, was understaffed and underfunded at a time when its hospitals experienced an influx of servicemen who, like Kovic, had been wounded in Viet Nam. Kovic recounts the miserable conditions and substandard treatment the men experienced on the VA wards. Patients didn’t live in those places; they existed in them. So there’s no mistake that Hurricane Street is an indictment of the VA of that period and, more broadly, the government’s hypocrisy.

    When Kovic and his fellow veterans, referring to one another as “brothers” and identifying themselves as members of the American Veterans Movement, occupied U.S. Senator Alan Cranston’s Los Angeles office, their objectives were to call attention to the VA’s shortcomings and prompt change. The book does a superb job of describing the difficulty of keeping a movement intact when the demonstrators themselves had to wonder how it would end. Further, in an era when there was no internet, Kovic and his friends showed laudable skill in managing publicity through newspapers and television networks. So, Hurricane Street is also a book about human perseverance. But, finally, it’s a story of victory.
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  • Kindle Customer
    3.0 out of 5 stars A wounded warrior from viet nam
    Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    It was okay enlightening regarding veteran care during Vietnam nancymarinello@yahoo.com, not much has changed. Unfortunately
    One person found this helpful
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  • Kindle Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars I recommend all Americans read this book so that as a ...
    Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2016
    Hurrican Street tells the story of disabled veteran Ron Kovic during his 1974 fight for all veterans rights for proper health care from the Veterans Affairs. The book chronicles how the veterans take over Senator Alan Cranston's office in Los Angeles in protest to speak to the head of the VA in Washington, D.C. Donald E. Jonhson. After a 17-day hunger strike, the veterans finally were given the chance to talk to Johnson and get some improvements. But after 40 years the VA still needs to put the returning veterans first in medical care. I recommend all Americans read this book so that as a nation we never forget that we are free because of the brave, and these veterans are entitled to the best healthcare possible after their ultimate sacrifice to our country.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • ChiaPetMcKenzie
    5.0 out of 5 stars Ron Kovic: still fighting for the Veterans of the USA
    Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2017
    Hurricane Street by Ron Kovic is a closer look at the Veteran's plight in America; the unending fight for dignity to those who return from War abroad only to fight the biggest war of all: the war for better medical treatment at home & the war to treat ALL U.S. Veterans with respect, no matter what.
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  • peter rech
    5.0 out of 5 stars Its a quick read and I recommend for everyone
    Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2016
    The book is a an eye-opener on VA treatment of veterans. It tells of Ron Kovics quest to change the way our Vets were treated. Ultimately Ron did that and the VA is now more responsive as a result of his labor. Its a quick read and I recommend for everyone.
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  • Sailor Jim
    4.0 out of 5 stars ... Vietnam disabled buddies tried to raise awareness of the crappy VA system in existence at the time
    Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2016
    it is a detailed report on the 17 days Ron and his Vietnam disabled buddies tried to raise awareness of the crappy VA system in existence at the time...I was disappointed he did not investigate more deeply those who betrayed him in the end. He could have sought government records under FOIA to find out which veterans acted as spies in anti-war movements. It still is tragic that veterans have to suffer long waits and abuse from unscrupuluous staffers
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Top reviews from other countries

  • jason scott
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 25, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    A COMPELLING AND RELEVANT FOLLOW UP TO 'BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY'
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