Oliver Stone was presented his Best Director Oscar for this film by his former film school teacher Martin Scorsese.
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.
Oliver Stone wanted to make the movie in Vietnam, but relations with that country and the U.S. were still frosty after the war, so it was made in the Philippines instead. Stone had filmed his previous Vietnam movie, Platoon (1986) in that country.
The entire film was shot in shades of red, white, or blue, depending on the emotional level (battle scenes are all in reddish hues, dream sequences in white, sadness in blue, etc).
Ron Kovic: The soldier in a wheelchair during the Massapequa, Long Island Independence Day parade on July 4th, 1956, seen flinching 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.