Born on the Fourth of July

Ron Kovic is an American antiwar activist who was paralyzed during the Vietnam War, in which he served as a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. He was born in Wisconsin on July 4, 1946, the son of two Navy veterans who had both served in World War II. Kovic was raised in Massapequa, New York, a Long Island suburb of New York City. Kovic was a wrestler in high school and dreamed of playing professional baseball for the New York Yankees.

After high school, Kovic enlisted in the Marines. After serving in Virginia for a year following basic training, Kovic volunteered for duty in Vietnam. From December 1965 to January 1967, he participated in 22 patrols in North Vietnamese territory. On his second voluntary tour of duty, he accidentally killed an American soldier. On January 20, 1968, Kovic was shot by North Vietnamese forces while participating in an attack on a village that was under Viet Cong attack. Kovic was abandoned by other members of his unit and shot in the foot before being shot in the shoulder, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. He was awarded a Bronze Star Medal for his service as well as a Purple Heart for being wounded.

Upon returning to the United States, Kovic became one of the best-known Vietnam peace activists. He spoke across the country and was arrested for a sit-in at a draft board office in Orange County, California. Kovic also protested at the Republican National Convention in Miami in 1972 and led other disabled veterans on a 17-day hunger strike inside the offices of US Senator Alan Cranston. He was a featured speaker at the 1976 Democratic National Convention and continued to raise attention to veterans’ issues and to take part in protest for peace for the next several decades, including protests against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in this century.

Kovic is the author of two memoirs about his activism career: Hurricane Street and Born on the Fourth of July. He also co-wrote (with Oliver Stone) the screenplay for the 1989 film adaptation of Born on the Fourth of July, which was nominated for an Academy Award. Today, he lives in Redondo Beach, California, and continues his work as an activist.