Ron Kovic
Ron Kovic is an anti-war activist, 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 Awardwinning 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 shot and paralyzed in the Vietnam War. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (Kovic and Stone co-wrote the screenplay for Born on the Fourth of July). Bruce Springsteen wrote the song "Shut Out The Light" after reading Kovic's memoir and then meeting him. 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."
Recently, 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 Iraq war. "I did not give three-quarters of my body in Vietnam in 1968, forty years ago, to be put inside of a cage. I'm going to speak. I'm going to raise my voice against this war, and I refuse to be silenced. And we refuse to be silenced. We're growing stronger every day. This is going to become one of the most powerful antiwar movements in the history of this country." No stranger to convention activism, 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
On January 20, 2008 Ron Kovic observed his 40th anniversary of having been shot and paralyzed in the Vietnam War. Of his sacrifice, he says, "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."
Kovic is a decorated U.S. Marine who served two tours of duty in the Vietnam War, where he was awarded the Bronze Star with "V" device for valor and the Purple Heart. As a constant and committed activist, Kovic has been arrested for political protest 12 times. 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."
Contact the lecture bureau to schedule Ron Kovic for your next event.
the lecture bureau 
7 Crescent Street Cambridge, MA 02138 888-912-0355