Ron Kovic

American Vietnam veteran and hero of the 1990 film "Born on the Fourth of July," which detailed his experiences during and after the war. Antiwar activist and passionate advocate for peace, Kovic took his personal tragedy and turned it into a blessing by helping others.

Kovic’s father was a clerk at a supermarket and his mother was a homemaker who took care of Ron and his five younger siblings. Although an uninspired student, he was a skilled athlete and a member of both the wrestling and track teams. He began working at a local grocery store after high school and not wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps, he joined the Marines in September 1964. He considered it his duty to serve his country, and planned to return from the war as a decorated hero. He was quickly shipped off to Vietnam where he soon became disillusioned, realizing that war was not like the movies depicted it. After he accidentally shot another soldier, he was deeply ashamed and tried to confess to his superiors, who would not allow it. After destroying a village and finding the dead were primarily women, children and the elderly, he began trying to get injured so that he could be sent home.

On 20 January 1968, Kovic was shot in the neck and left paralyzed from the chest down. He was awarded a Purple Heart for his bravery.

His post-war experience in Veterans’ hospitals left him deeply depressed, but in 1969, he enrolled in college in New York. In August 1972, he attended the Republican National Convention where he disrupted Nixon’s acceptance speech, and appeared on the CBS news, saying, "I’m a Vietnam veteran. I gave America my all, and the leaders of this government threw me and others away to rot in VA hospitals. What’s happening in Vietnam is a crime against humanity." He became more and more active in antiwar organizations, attended protests and went on hunger strikes.