Ron Kovic | |
|---|---|
 Ron Kovic at an anti-war rally inLos Angeles, California, on October 12, 2007. | |
| Born | Ronald Lawrence Kovic July 4, 1946 (1946-07-04) (age 79) Ladysmith, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1964–1968 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Unit | |
| Conflicts | Vietnam War |
Ronald Lawrence Kovic (born July 4, 1946)[1] is an Americananti-war activist, author, andUnited States Marine Corps sergeant who was wounded and paralyzed in theVietnam War. His best selling 1976 memoirBorn on the Fourth of July was made into thefilm of the same name which starredTom Cruise as Kovic, and was co-written by Kovic and directed byOliver Stone.[2]
Kovic received theGolden Globe Award for Best Screenplay on January 20, 1990, 22 years to the day that he was wounded in Vietnam, and was nominated for an Academy Award in the same category.[3]
Kovic was born inLadysmith, Wisconsin, the second of six children[1] of Patricia Ann Lamb (January 6, 1923 – June 30, 2006) and Eli Thomas Kovic (August 3, 1920 – May 1, 1999).[4] Eli met Patricia while serving in the Navy during the Second World War after both enlisted shortly after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Eli was ofCroatian ancestry. Patricia was of Irish ancestry. She was a housewife.[5] Kovic grew up inMassapequa, New York, and graduated in 1964 fromMassapequa High School onLong Island.[6]
Kovic volunteered to serve in the Vietnam War, and was sent toSouth Vietnam in December 1965 as a member of H&S Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division. In June 1966, he was transferred to Bravo Company, Second Platoon, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division[7] where he participated in 22 long range reconnaissance patrols in enemy territory and was awarded theNavy Commendation Medal with Combat V for valor. After a 13-month tour of duty, he returned home on January 15, 1967. He was subsequently assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing atCherry Point, North Carolina. Several months later, he volunteered to return to Vietnam for a second tour of duty.[8]
On January 20, 1968, while leading a reconnaissance force of battalion scouts[9] from the 1st Amtrac Battalion just north of the Cửa Việt River in the vicinity of the village ofMỹ Lộc, in theDemilitarized Zone, Kovic's squad came into contact with the NVA 803rd Regiment and elements of aViet Cong battalion that was besieging the village; he was shot by NVA soldiers while leading his rifle squad across an open area, attempting to aid theSouth Vietnamese Popular Force unit in the village. Deserted by most of his unit,[10] he was shot first in the right foot, which tore out the back of his heel, then again through the right shoulder, suffering acollapsed lung and aspinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the chest down.[8] The first Marine that tried to save him was shot through the heart and killed, before a second Marine carried Kovic to safety through heavy enemy fire. Kovic spent a week in anintensive care ward inDa Nang. As a result of his service and injuries in the conflict, Kovic was awarded theBronze Star withCombat "V" for heroism in battle and thePurple Heart.[11]
Before the end of the war in Vietnam was declared on April 30, 1975, Kovic became one of the best-known peace activists among the Vietnam veterans, and was arrested 12 times for political protesting. He attended his first peace demonstration soon after theKent State shootings in May 1970. That same spring, Kovic’s first speech against the war atLevittown Memorial High School inLevittown, Long Island, New York was interrupted by a bomb threat and the auditorium was cleared.[5]Undeterred, Kovic continued speaking to students from the school's football grandstands.
His first arrest was during ananti-Vietnam War demonstration at an Orange County, California draft board in the spring of 1971. He refused to leave the office of the draft board, explaining to a representative that, by sending young men to Vietnam, they were inadvertently "condemning them to their death", or to be wounded and maimed like himself in a war that he had come to believe was "immoral and made no sense". He was told that, if he did not leave the draft board immediately, he would be arrested. Kovic refused to leave and was taken away by police.[8]
In 1974, Kovic led a group of disabled Vietnam War veterans in wheelchairs on a 17-dayhunger strike inside the Los Angeles office of SenatorAlan Cranston. The veterans protested the "poor treatment in America's veterans' hospitals and demanded better treatment for returning veterans, a full investigation of allVeterans Administration (VA) facilities, and a face-to-face meeting with the head of the VA,Donald E. Johnson. The strike continued to escalate until Johnson finally agreed to fly out from Washington, D.C., and meet with the veterans. The hunger strike ended soon after that. Several months later, Johnson resigned. In late August 1974, Kovic traveled toBelfast,Northern Ireland, where he spent a week in the Catholic stronghold of "Turf Lodge", interviewing both political activists and residents. In the spring of 1975, Kovic, authorRichard Boyle, and photo journalist Loretta Smith traveled to cover theCambodian Civil War forPacific News Service.[8]
On the night of July 15, 1976, at the Democratic National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Kovic spoke from the podium seconding the nomination of draft resister Fritz Efaw for Vice President of the United States.[12]
In 1990, Kovic considered running for a seat in the House of Representatives against California RepublicanBob Dornan.[13] Kovic ultimately decided not to run.[14]
From 1990 to 1991, Kovic took part in several anti-war demonstrations against the firstGulf War, which occurred not long after the release of his biographical film in 1989. In early May 1999, following theU.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, Kovic met with China's ambassador to the United StatesLi Zhaoxing at theChinese embassy in Washington, D.C. to express his condolences and present the ambassador and his staff with two dozen red roses. He was an outspoken critic of theIraq War.[8]
In November 2003, Kovic joined protests inLondon against the visit ofGeorge W. Bush. He was the guest of honor at a reception held atLondon's city hall by MayorKen Livingstone. The following day, he led a march of several hundred thousand demonstrators onTrafalgar Square, where a huge rally was held to protest the visit of George W. Bush and the war in Iraq. Kovic attended the2008 Democratic National Convention inDenver,Colorado. On Sunday, August 24, 2008, the day before the convention began, Kovic spoke, then led thousands in a march against the war which ended with him saying, "In the city of Denver, we got welcomed home."[15]
In a new introduction to his book,Born on the Fourth of July (1976), written in March 2005, Kovic stated, "I wanted people to understand. I wanted to share with them as nakedly and openly and intimately as possible what I had gone through, what I had endured. I wanted them to know what it really meant to be in a war, to be shot and wounded, to be fighting for my life on the intensive care ward, not the myth we had grown up believing. I wanted people to know about the hospitals and the enema room, about why I had become opposed to the war, why I had grown more and more committed to peace and nonviolence. I had been beaten by the police and arrested twelve times for protesting the war and I had spent many nights in jail in my wheelchair. I had been called aCommunist and a traitor, simply for trying to tell the truth about what had happened in that war, but I refused to be intimidated." In 1989, on the last day of filmingBorn on the Fourth of July, Kovic presented actorTom Cruise, who portrayed him in the movie, the original Bronze Star he had received,[16] explaining to Cruise that he was giving him the medal as a gift "for his heroic performance".[16]
Kovic lives inRedondo Beach, California, where he writes, paints, plays the piano, and gardens. He had a close relationship withConnie Panzarino, author ofThe Me in the Mirror.[17]
Bruce Springsteen wrote the song "Shut Out the Light" after reading Kovic's memoir and then meeting him.[18]
Military Awards: Bronze Star with Combat V, Purple Heart, Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V, Vietnam Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Good Conduct Medal.
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{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)Springsteen and Kovic have been friendly for more than 30 years and the B-side song on the "Born in the USA" single, "Shut Out the Light," was written by the Boss about Kovic.
