Free Downloads Born On The Fourth Of July
“A great, courageous fellow, a man of deep moral convictions and an uncompromising disposition.”—John Kerry on Ron Kovic“As relevant as ever, this book is an education. Ron is a true American, and his great heart and hard-won wisdom shine through these pages.” —Oliver Stone, filmmaker“Born on the Fourth of July brings back the era of the Vietnam War at a time when the Establishment is trying to make the nation forget what they call the “Vietnam syndrome.” Ron Kovic’s memoir is written with poetic passion and grips your attention from the very first page to the last. It is a classic of antiwar literature and I hope it will be read by large numbers of young people, who will be both sobered and inspired by his story. —Howard Zinn“If you want to understand the everlasting reverberations of our war in Vietnam and how it impacts our current events, you must read this book.” —LARRY HEINEMANN“There is no book more relevant in the 21st century to healing the wound of Vietnam, which continues to bring so much pain to our country, as reflected in the last presidential election . . . It remains to Kovic to remind us that history matters, and that the cost of our high follies persists.” —ROBERT SCHEER, Los Angeles Times columnistThis 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.
Paperback: 216 pages
Publisher: Akashic Books; 1St Edition edition (January 1, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1888451785
ISBN-13: 978-1888451788
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (103 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #42,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #12 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Specific Topics > War & Peace #19 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Military > Vietnam War #56 in Books > History > Military > United States > Vietnam War
Massapequa, New York may well be the most unabashedly patriotic town in America. Like Ron Kovic (who I knew in passing) I grew up there, played in "Sally's Woods" got my hair cut at Sparky the Barber's, and participated in the endless red, white and blue parades that seemed to define our town. A safe, stable bedroom community on Long Island's South Shore, it spawned boys like Kovic who absorbed the tales of "the greatest generation" and took up their fathers' banners when they went to Vietnam.BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY is Kovic's unpolished, sincere, aggressive and searingly sad remembrance of his Vietnam experience. Kovic was gravely wounded on the first day of the Tet Offensive. Returning home as a paraplegic, Kovic tells us of the hideous treatment he received at the hands of the Veterans Administration, a bureaucracy so rotten that it neglected and abused the very men and women it was supposed to aid.The sheer contempt with which Kovic was treated turned this All-American young man into a cynic, turning him against the war, and forcing him to confront an uncomfortable paradox: millions were being spent on war machines while America's wounded soldiers had to live with filth and rats in their hospital rooms.The experience drove Kovic to become a public speaker for Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). Interestingly, Kovic never mentions John Kerry, a founder of that organization, but he does recount how VVAW was infiltrated by Nixon operatives and almost derailed.Kovic also tells us---in various flashbacks---about his psychological journey as a paraplegic, about his loneliness, his depression, his pain and misery, and his frustration at being unable to walk. He writes frankly and cathartically of coping with the loss of his sex life.
"Born on the Fourth of July," by Ron Kovic is a riveting, true autobiographical story of the life of a young man who leaves his small town after high school to enter the harsh Vietnam War to honor his country. He tells his story of the horrors that he had to face and watch as a soldier confronted with many difficult situations. While serving his nation, he gets badly injured in action and is forced to stop fighting and go to the hospital. What he sees is what no man should ever have to experience. His injury is severe. He is paralyzed from the waist down and will never be able to walk again. The hospitals were in gruesome conditions. The government did not want to give the funds for better equipment. Kovic explains how the conditions of the hospital were worse than the war itself. Kovic goes through a life changing event. He struggles with his handicap as he also struggles with the horrific memories of the war. During the course of the book, Kovic seeks to find himself in a world that he is lost in. The book goes into deep detail of Kovic's post war experience. Ron Kovic becomes an active anti-war advocate and goes to many demonstrations. He travels to Washington D.C. and even sits in on a speech given by the president. He and many other anti-war veterans hold up signs and try to draw national attention to themselves. Kovic feels so strongly against this war that he even puts himself in a position where he was sent to jail for his beliefs. Kovic moves a lot of people with this powerful book of his life. The unique aspect about Kovic's book, "Born on the Fourth of the July" is that Kovic wrote the entire book from personal experience. Kovic is not a writer but had a lot to say. He writes his beliefs and thoughts down to tell the world.
Nora Roberts - Born In Trilogy: Born in Fire, Born in Ice, Born in Shame Born on the Fourth of July Born in Fire (Born In Trilogy) The Fourth of July Story A Child Is Born: Fourth Edition of the Beloved Classic--Completely Revised and Updated Moleskine 2013-2014 Star Wars Limited Edition Weekly Planner+Notes, 18 Month, (July '13 - Dec. '14), Large, Black, Hard Cover (5 x 8.25) (Planners & Datebooks) The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot July 25, 1909 (Picture Puffin Books) The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot July 25, 1909 July 4th Coloring Book for Kids Happy 4th of July (Holiday Fun) Paper Crafts for the 4th of July (Paper Craft Fun for Holidays) Automated Reasoning with Analytic Tableaux and Related Methods: 16th International Conference, TABLEAUX 2007, Aix en Provence, France, July 3-6, 2007, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science) Coherent atomic matter waves - Ondes de matiere coherentes: 27 July - 27 August 1999 (Les Houches - Ecole d'Ete de Physique Theorique) Software Reuse: Methods, Techniques, and Tools: 8th International Conference, ICSR 2004, Madrid, Spain, July 5-9, 2004, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science) Transplant Production Systems: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Transplant Production Systems, Yokohama, Japan, 21-26 July 1992 Wiley CPAexcel Exam Review July 2016 Focus Notes: Financial Accounting and Reporting Wiley CPAexcel Exam Review 2015 Study Guide July: Financial Accounting and Reporting (Wiley Cpa Exam Review) Wiley CPAexcel Exam Review July 2016 Focus Notes: Business Environment and Concepts Wiley CPAexcel Exam Review 2015 Study Guide July: Auditing and Attestation (Wiley Cpa Exam Review) Wiley CPAexcel Exam Review July 2016 Focus Notes: Regulation
