Oliver Stone was presented his Best Director Oscar for this film by his former film school teacher Martin Scorsese.
For the duration of filming the scenes after Ron is paralyzed, Tom Cruise stayed in and used a wheelchair off the set as much as possible.
The last scene of the film to be shot - in a race against time as the sun was going down - was the wheelchair fight between Tom Cruise and Willem Dafoe.
Oliver Stone and Tom Cruise both expressed interest in using a nerve agent to cause genuine paralysis in Cruise's legs, but they were unable to find a substance that was safe enough to guarantee no permanent damage.
Ron Kovic: One of the soldiers in a wheelchair during the Massapequa, Long Island Independence Day parade on July 4th, 1956. He and his other wounded soldiers are seen wincing at the sound of firecrackers exploding.
Oliver Stone: the reporter interviewing the military official on television near the beginning of the film, who is played by Dale Dye, the film's military technical advisor.