The standards by which critics approached Born on the Fourth of July upon its publication seem different from the usual reviews given to memoirs or first-person accounts. Most critics took into consideration that the book was not the product of a trained writer with literary aspirations or pretensions. That said, the consensus was clear that Ron Kovic had produced a powerful and, in many regards, timeless war classic. Published as it was just a year after the end of the war, the book was lauded for its honesty and forthright portrayal of a young man and his country caught up in uncontrollable situations. Donald C. Galbasini's review in the October 1977 issue of the American Bar Association Journal, calls Born on the Fourth of July "a very readable story of what war does to human beings." Galbasini also cites Kovic as a "one-time hawk [turned] antiwar dove...