Perspective

The book is written by its main character, Ron Kovic. Kovic is a man of the baby boom generation. He was born on July 4th, 1946, grew up during the height of the Cold War in New York, and as a adolescent believed in his country as nearly everyone did. After high school when he joined the marines, the United States social order began to break down, and Kovic eventually sided with those on the left who opposed the Vietnam War. The reader might therefore expect to find strong biases in favor of a variety of left-wing positions on economic, religious and social topics. However, this is not so. His overwhelming focus is on the war and stopping it. One might see Kovic as a man constantly trying to atone. His getting wounded was an attempt at atonement, his becoming part of the antiwar movement was an attempt at...