Ron Kovic Ronald Lawrence Kovic ( born July 4 , 1946 ) is an anti - war activist , marine veteran and writer who was paralyzed in the Vietnam War . He is best known as the author of the memoir " Born on the Fourth of July " , which was made into an Academy Award – winning movie directed by Oliver Stone , with Tom Cruise playing Kovic . Kovic received the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay on January 20 , 1990 , exactly 22 years to the day that he was wounded in Vietnam . Ron Kovic was also nominated for an Academy Award for best screen play . Bruce Springsteen wrote the song " Shut Out The Light " after reading Kovic ' s memoir and then meeting him . Tom Paxton , the folk singer / political activist , wrote the song " Born on the Fourth of July " , which is on his " New Songs from the Briarpatch " album . Academy Award winning actress Jane Fonda has stated that Ron Kovic ' s story was the inspiration for her film " Coming Home " . Biography . Early life . Kovic was born in Ladysmith , Wisconsin , and was raised in Massapequa , New York , in a Roman Catholic household . His father was Croatian , his mother Irish . Inspired by President John F . Kennedy ' s " Ask not what your country can do for you ; ask what you can do for your country " speech , he joined the United States Marine Corps after high school in September 1964 and was assigned to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island , South Carolina , for twelve weeks of intensive recruit training . He was awarded the rank of Private First Class out of boot camp and became the push - up champion of his battalion . Kovic was then sent to the Infantry Training Regiment at Camp Lejeune , North Carolina , for advanced combat training . He returned home to Massapequa in December 1964 , just in time for Christmas . After several weeks leave Kovic was assigned to the Marine Corps Barracks at Norfolk , Virginia , where he attended radio school and learned communication skills , including the International Morse Code . He was next assigned to the Second Field Artillery Battalion , Camp Lejeune , North Carolina . Service in Vietnam and wounding . He volunteered for his first tour of duty and was deployed to Vietnam in December 1965 as a member of the 3rd Battalion , 7th Marines H & S Company . In June 1966 , he volunteered for First Reconnaissance Battalion where he participated in 22 long range reconnaissance patrols in enemy territory . He returned home on January 15 , 1967 after a 13 month tour of duty , and was assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing at Cherry Point , North Carolina . Several months later he volunteered to return to Vietnam a second time . In October 1967 , Kovic accidentally shot and killed another Marine in a friendly fire incident when a NVA unit ambushed him and his men near a village along the Cua Viet River . On January 20 , 1968 , while leading an attack on a village just north of the Cua Viet River in the Demilitarized Zone , he was shot while leading his squad across an open area . He was shot first in the right foot , which blew out the back of his heel , then again through the right shoulder , suffering a collapsed lung and a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the chest down . The first Marine that tried to save him was shot through the heart and killed , then a second Marine carried Kovic to safety through heavy enemy fire ( Kovic learned years later that this second Marine was killed later that afternoon ) . He then spent a week in an intensive care ward in Da Nang . As a result of his service and injuries in the conflict , he was awarded the Bronze Star with " V " device for valor and the Purple Heart . Activism . Kovic became one of the best - known peace activist s among the veteran s of the war and has been arrested for political protest 12 times . He attended his first peace demonstration soon after the Kent State shootings in May 1970 , and gave his first speech against the war at Levittown Memorial High School in Levittown , Long Island , New York that same spring . Kovic ' s speech that day was interrupted by a bomb threat and the auditorium cleared . Undeterred , Kovic continued speaking to students from the school ' s football grandstands . His first arrest was during an anti - Vietnam War demonstration at an Orange County , California draft board in the spring of 1971 when 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 . In a new introduction to his book , " Born on the Fourth of July , " 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 a Communist and a traitor , simply for trying to tell the truth about what had happened in that war , but I refused to be intimidated . " In early 1989 , he presented Tom Cruise with his Bronze Star medal on the final day of filming " Born on the Fourth of July , " explaining to the actor that he was giving him the award as a gift for his " courageous portrayal of the true horrors of war . " " Time Magazine " reported that Oliver Stone said , " He gave it to Tom for bravery for having gone through this experience in hell as much as any person can without actually having been there . " In 1974 , Kovic led a group of disabled Vietnam War veterans in wheelchairs on a 17 - day hunger strike inside the Los Angeles office of Senator Alan Cranston . The veterans protested the " poor treatment in America ' s Veterans Hospitals " and demanded better treatment for returning veterans , a full investigation of all Veterans Affairs ( V . A . ) facilities , and a face - to - face meeting with head of the V . A . 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 to Belfast , 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 , photojournalist Loretta Smith , and author Richard Boyle traveled to cover the Cambodian Civil War as correspondents for the Pacific News Service . Kovic was a speaker at the 1976 Democratic National Convention , seconding the nomination of draft resister Fritz Efaw for Vice President of the United States . Time magazine described the scene as one of the few poignant moments of the convention and many in the audience were brought to tears . On July 12 , 1977 Kovic was arrested with 191 students and supporters during the Gym protests at Kent State University . In 1988 Ron Kovic was a Jesse Jackson delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta , Georgia . From 1990 to 1991 , Kovic took part in several anti - war demonstrations against the first Gulf War , which occurred not long after the release of his biographical film . In early May 1999 , following the US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade , Yugoslavia , Kovic met with China ' s ambassador to the United States Li Zhaoxing at the Chinese embassy in Washington D . C . to express his most sincere condolences and present the ambassador and his staff with two dozen red roses . He was an outspoken critic of the Iraq War . In November 2003 , he joined protests in London against the visit of George W . Bush . He was the guest of honor at a reception held for British peacemakers at London ' s city hall by Mayor Ken Livingstone . The following day , he led a march of several hundred thousand demonstrators on Trafalgar Square , where a huge rally was held protesting the visit of George W . Bush and the war in Iraq . Kovic attended the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver , 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 . " In March 2007 , Kovic checked into the Ernest Bors Spinal Cord Injury ward of the Veterans Administration Hospital in Long Beach , California , for an undisclosed illness . Recent activity . On January 20 , 2008 , Kovic observed his 40th anniversary of having been shot and paralyzed in the Vietnam War . Kovic , in March 2005 , said : " The scar will always be there , a living reminder of that war , but it has also become something beautiful now , something of faith and hope and love . I have been given the opportunity to move through that dark night of the soul to a new shore , to gain an understanding , a knowledge , and entirely different vision . I now believe I have suffered for a reason and in many ways I have found that reason in my commitment to peace and nonviolence . My life has been a blessing in disguise , even with the pain and great difficulty that my physical disability continues to bring . It is a blessing to speak on behalf of peace , to be able to reach such a great number of people . " On April 8 , 2009 , Kovic joined British MP and activist George Galloway to launch Viva Palestina USA , an American branch of Viva Palestina . Kovic planned to co - lead with Mr . Galloway a humanitarian relief convoy to the Gaza Strip in early July 2009 . On December 6 , 2009 Kovic spoke honoring Bruce Springsteen at the 32nd annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington , D . C . On December 22 , 2009 , Kovic , Oliver Stone , and friends celebrated the 20th anniversary of the 1989 film release of " Born on the Fourth of July " at a dinner party in Torrance , California . In April 2010 , Kovic traveled to Rome , Italy , as a member of the Council for Dignity , Forgiveness , and Reconciliation . Between April 19 – 26 , he attended meetings at Rome ' s City Hall with other international peace activists , diplomats and academics , to discuss the need for conflict resolution and other more peaceful , nonviolent alternatives to war as a way of solving the worlds many conflicts . On April 21 , 2010 , he spoke of his journey from war to peace , forgiveness , and reconciliation before Rome ' s mayor Gianni Alemanno , and other civic leaders at Rome ' s Ara Pacis ( Altar of Augustan Peace ) , commissioned by the Roman Senate 4 July - 13 BC . Kovic lives in Redondo Beach , California , where he writes , paints , plays the piano , and gardens . He has never married . He plans to begin writing the long - awaited sequel to his book , " Born on The Fourth of July " . Films . Interviewed :