Inspired by John F. Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you” message in the 1961 inaugural address, Ron Kovic joined the Marine Corps after graduating high school in 1964 and served several tours in Vietnam. After becoming paralyzed from the chest down, Kovic returned home and became a vocal anti-war activist. His 1976 memoir, Born on the Fourth of July, was made into an Oscar-winning movie by Oliver Stone starring Tom Cruise (born on the third of July) as Kovic.