Famous Vietnam Vet Curses Reporter For "Stupid" Question

Vietnam vet Ron Kovic, who took his Purple Heart and parlayed his paralysis into a bestselling book and Academy Award-winning film, Born on the Fourth of July, which starred Tom Cruise, expects EVERYONE to know his birthday. So when a reporter, last week, asked the anti-war activist what he would be doing on the 4th, Kovic reportedly replied, "What the hell d'ya think I'll be doing?"

As the South Carolina-based Post and Courier journalist, Fryderyk Wysoki, simply stared at Kovic, who was in Charleston for an anti-war rally, the veteran, according to Wysoki, became increasingly more irate, shouting, "Just what the f-ck d'ya think I'll be doing? Don't you know who the f-ck I am? And you call yourself a f-cking journalist?" before wheeling by the dumbfounded reporter as he muttered numerous parting expletives.

* Reporter Fryderyk Wysoki kneeling before Kovic, moments before the Vietnam vet verbally assaulted the journalist for his lack of knowledge.

What Kovic didn't know, however, is that Wysoki, a Polish reporter who has been with South Carolina's Courier and Times as part of a culture-sharing program with Poland's Gazeta Polska (Polish Gazette), is in the United States to learn about people like Ron Kovic.

On this 4th of July, regardless of his treatment of a foreign reporter, let us not forget Mr. Kovic's beautifully written prose, a true reminder of the sacrifices offered by our nation's brave men and women: "I am the living death, the Memorial Day on wheels. I am your Yankee Doodle Dandy, your John Wayne come home, your Fourth of July firecracker exploding in the grave."

Isn't everyone's entitled to having a bad day every now and then? In fact, perhaps, at this moment, a Polish war veteran is cursing out an American reporter.