Born on the Fourth of July

Born on the Fourth of July is a 1976 memoir written by wounded Vietnam veteran and antiwar activist Ron Kovic. The memoir was adapted into a 1989 film directed by Oliver Stone; Kovic and Stone co-wrote the screenplay, which earned an Oscar nomination. In the memoir, Kovic describes his experiences in and surrounding his tours of duty in Vietnam, including why he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, how he was injured, and how he became a prominent antiwar protester. Kovic argues that the Vietnam War was not worth the sacrifices he and others made and that the government betrayed him and other veterans of the conflict. Throughout the book, Kovic alternates between the first-person and third-person limited narrative voices depending on the action being conveyed, though the protagonist of both voices is himself.

Kovic opens the book by discussing his injury and how he acquired it. He is first shot through the foot before sustaining a shot in his spinal column that leaves him paralyzed from the chest down. Kovic is moved to a hospital in Vietnam and is awarded the Purple Heart; he is then moved to a series of poorly run Veterans Affairs hospitals in New York.