Ronald Lawrence Kovic (born July 4, 1946) is an American anti-war activist, writer, and United States Marine Corps sergeant who was wounded and paralyzed in the Vietnam War. He is the one who wrote the book called "Born on the Fourth of July" in 1976.
Biography[]
Ronald Kovic was born in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, the second eldest of the six children of Patricia Ann Lamb and Eli Thomas Kovic. Eli Thomas Kovic met Lamb while serving in the U.S Navy during the Second World War after both enlisted shortly after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Eli was of Croatian ancestry, while Patricia was of Irish ancestry, and a housewife. In 1956 Massapequa, New York, Kovic at age 10 attends an Independence Day parade on his birthday with his family and best friend Donna. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy's televised inaugural address inspires a teenage Ron to join the United States Marine Corps. After attending an impassioned lecture by two Marine recruiters visiting his high school, he enlists. His decision receives support from his mother but upsets his father. Ron goes to his prom, and dances with Donna before leaving for basic training.
Service[]
After finishing high school in 1964, Kovic joined the United States Marine Corps. He did 12 weeks of intensive training at the recruitment facility in South Carolina and was given the rank of Private First Class. He then went to boot camping Camp Lejeune in North Carolina for his advanced combat training. After spending Christmas at home, he was assigned to the Barracks at Norfolk, Virginia. He did further training in radio and communications, learning Morse code as well. Kovic volunteered to serve in Vietnam, and in December 1965 arrived at his post in South Vietnam. He was assigned to H&S Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division. In 1966, he was re-assigned to Bravo Company, Second Platoon, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, US 1st Marine Division. After serving in Vietnam for 13 months, Kovic returned home. He was assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing in North Carolina, but he volunteered for a second tour of duty and returned once again to Vietnam.
Third Tour[]
In October 1967, Ron is now a Marine sergeant on a reconnaissance mission in Vietnam, during his second tour of duty. He and his unit kill a number of Vietnamese villagers after mistaking them for enemy combatants. After encountering enemy fire, they flee the village and abandon its sole survivor, a crying baby. During the retreat, Ron accidentally kills a young private named Wilson in his platoon. He reports the action to his superior, who ignores the claim and advises him not to say anything else.
The loss of Two Legs[]
On January 20, 1968, Ron Kovic's reconnaissance force came under heavy fire from the North Vietnamese, and Kovic was shot in the foot and the shoulder, causing a collapsed lung and injury to his spinal cord which resulted in paralysis from the chest down but was rescued by a fellow Marine. Paralyzed from the mid-chest down, he spends several months in recovery at the Bronx Veterans Hospital in New York. The hospital's conditions are poor; the doctors and nurses ignore patients, abuse drugs, and operate using old equipment. Against his doctors' requests, Ron desperately tries to walk again with the use of braces and crutches, only to damage his legs and confine himself permanently to a wheelchair.
Life after Vietnam[]
In 1969, Ron returns home and turns to alcohol after feeling increasingly neglected and disillusioned. During an Independence Day parade, Ron is asked to give a speech, but is unable to finish after he hears a crying baby in the crowd and has a flashback to Vietnam. Ron visits Donna in Syracuse, New York, where the two reminisce. In Massapequa, a drunken Ron has a heated argument with his mother, and his father decides to send him to Villa Dulce (The Sweet Villa), a Mexican haven for wounded Vietnam veterans. He has his first sexual encounter with a prostitute, whom he falls for until he sees her with another customer. Ron befriends Charlie, another paraplegic, and the two decide to travel to another village after getting kicked out of a bar. After annoying their taxicab driver, they are stranded on the side of the road and argue with each other. They are picked up by a truck driver who takes them back to Villa Dulce.
Confessing[]
Ron travels to Armstrong, Texas, where he discovers Wilson's tombstone. He then visits the fallen Marine's family in Georgia to confess his guilt. Wilson's widow Jamie expresses that she is unable to forgive Ron, while her parents are more sympathetic. At this point, Ron turned his attention to becoming a peace activist, and he was arrested on 12 different occasions for his political protesting. He didn’t care about the arrests and continued to speak to students and others about the war.
A Symbol[]
In 1972, Ron joins the organization Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and travels to the Republican National Convention in Miami, Florida. As Richard Nixon is giving an acceptance speech for his presidential nomination, Ron expresses to a news reporter his hatred for the war and the government for abandoning the American people. His comments enrage Nixon supporters, and his interview is cut short when police attempt to remove and arrest him and other protestors. Ron and the veterans manage to break free from the officers, regroup, and charge the hall again, though not successfully. In 1976, Ron delivers a public address at the Democratic National Convention in New York City, following the publication of his autobiography.