uld have never prepared himself for how his decision to become a Marine would affect the way he viewed America and forever change the way he lived his life.
             Kovic's first glimpse of a change in attitude towards the war occurred on the battlefield in Vietnam. During a violent firefight, the corporal of Kovic's troop was shot and killed. Not only was the corporal killed, but Kovic also thought he might have been the one who shot the corporal. It was at this time that Kovic first questioned why he was in Vietnam fighting for his country. This particular incident made Kovic realize that innocent people were being killed. Killing the corporal had a strong impact on him because for the first time he had killed one of the "good" guys, and not the Communist enemy. After Kovic shot the corporal, he admitted to the major that he believed he was the one who killed the corporal. When Kovic did this, the major reassured him that it could get very confusing on the battlefield and that most likely Kovic did not kill the corporal (193). As a result, the major gave Kovic a second chance and made him feel better about what happened on the battlefield that day. In the book, Kovic states that after talking to the major, his thoughts of killing the corporal had begun to fade. That night, Kovic wrote in his diary how lucky he was to be in Vietnam fighting for America (198). Although Kovic had begun to forget about killing the corporal and was again feeling about
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