Born on the Fourth of July

by Ron Kovic

Book Overview

This New York Times bestseller (more than one million copies sold) details the author's life story (portrayed by Tom Cruise in the Oliver Stone film version)-from a patriotic soldier in Vietnam, to his severe battlefield injury, to his role as the country's most outspoken anti-Vietnam War advocate, spreading his message from his wheelchair. Kovic's powerful and moving new introduction sets this classic antiwar story in a contemporary context.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 007035359X
• ISBN13: 9780070353596
• Release Date: January 1976
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.

Customer Reviews

best book ever

"Born on the Fourth of July" is one of the best books I have ever read. The book is a true story about Ron Kovic, (who is also the author) a marine in combat in Vietnam who gets shot and is paralyzed from the waist down. The book takes you on a journey through his whole life from his birth to his turn around from marine to someone speaking out against the war. The book is a very emotional book especially for a guy. The book is not for all ages but for a more mature audience. The book helped me realize that war is not the answer to a problem. I highly recommend this book for any mature youth who would like an in depth look at what war will do to someone.

This book was so good

"Born on the Fourth of July," was a book which brought tears to my eyes immediately. It's a very appropriate book to read at a time of war in our country; it gave me a better understanding to what these poor soldiers are facing every day. Ron Kovic told a story of courage, bravery, and sacrifice. Not only did he discuss his own personal experience of the Vietnam War and the effect it had on him, but he deeply described all aspects of the war, from boot camp, to the people he met, to what the actual battles were like. However, it is mainly a story about one mans loss, and how he learns to cope with it every day for his whole life. It deeply affected me because I know there our soldiers out there today going through the same type of experience. It will touch your life as well and allow you to think about it too.

One of the Better True Vietnam Stories

I became familiar with Ron Kovic while still a Marine. Probably in 71 or 72 after I returned from Vietnam. Luckily I was not wounded. While stationed in Hawaii after returning, I had the occasion to join Vietnam Veterans Against the War. A friend tried in vane to persuade me to join, but I never could quite do it. I had been taught just like thousands of other young recruits that ours was a noble deed. I still believe that. However...after having read this book, I became much more enlightened to what a lot of men experienced after being wounded/and or wounded severely and emotionally. This book is not about a man against America, but in favor of waking some people up to the horrors of war and the terrible losses we all suffer because of war. A must read.

A Moving Story

I have just read Born on the Fourth of July. I found it to be a very moving account of Ron Kovic. He is very graphic when he explains his thoughts, feelings, and the hospitals. I think that it should be that way. The war should not be sugar coated the way some people depict it. If it wasn't, America would not know what the veterans really had to go through. From this book I have learned more about the Vietnam War then I ever learned in school. I think Ron Kovic did an excellent job writing this book. I recommend it to anyone interested in veterans or the Vietnam War.

Poignant is an understatement

I had first seen Oliver Stone's adaptation when I was 11 years old. My pre-pubescent sensibility didn't allow me to comprehend what was on the screen, either did my post-adolescent sensibility. This past summer I had read Mailer's "Armies of the Night", and never stopped pondering the concluding line, "For we must end on the road to that mystery where courage, death, and the dream of love give promise of sleep." So then, what does it mean to be an American? Kovic brought this statement forth in such a compelling manner, that I couldn't help asking myself this question, while reading. I sit cozily, well-fed, and warm, reading this book as an undergraduate; Kovic's experience is unfathomable to a slothful log like myself. Perhaps, this is the point of Kovic's heart-felt articulation, to awaken us, the slumbering masses, who watch a media blurb on war and violence, then leave it behind us and change the channel, while eating our turkey breast with gravy. Things like Vietnam will always happen as long as people remain quiet and content! Thank you Ron Kovic for reminding me of this lesson.