''Friendly Fire'' is an American television movie first broadcast on the ABC network on April 22, 1979. Watched that night by an estimated 64 million people,Brown, Les
"ABC's 'Friendly Fire' Drew 64 Million."
'' The New York Times'', April 25, 1979, p. C22. Archived fro
the original.
/ref> ''Friendly Fire'' went on to win four

Emmy awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

, including Outstanding Drama Special."1978–1979 Emmy Awards."
''infoplease.com'', updated February 11, 2017. Accessed December 27, 2020. Archived fro

/ref> The film was directed by David Greene. The movie tells the real-life story of Peg Mullen (played by Carol Burnett),Gamarekian, Barbara
"Why Carol Burnett Made 'Friendly Fire'."
'' The New York Times'', April 21, 1979, p. 15. Archived fro
the original.
/ref> a woman from rural Iowa who with her husband works against government obstacles to uncover the actual details and facts about the death of their son Michael, an Army infantry soldier killed by " friendly fire" in February 1970 during the Vietnam War. Her husband Gene, a World War II veteran, is played by

Ned Beatty Ned Thomas Beatty (July 6, 1937 – June 13, 2021) was an American actor and comedian. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 films. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest actor in ...

. Sergeant Mullen was drafted in September 1968 after he graduated from college and sent to

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

(Republic of Vietnam) assigned to the

198th Infantry Brigade The 198th Infantry Brigade, was first formed as part of the United States Army Reserve's 99th Infantry Division (United States), 99th Division. It was active from 1967 through 1971 and has been active since 2007 as an Infantry Training Brigade as ...

, 23rd Infantry Division (Americal Division) in September 1969. He was listed as a non-battle casualty after being accidentally killed with another soldier from an exploding Army artillery shell burst fragment, while Mullen and most of his platoon were asleep at night on their hilltop position; the government did not report publicly the number of non-battle deaths or their names on its weekly casualty lists during the war. ''Friendly Fire'' is adapted by Fay Kanin from

C. D. B. Bryan Courtlandt Dixon Barnes Bryan (April 22, 1936 – December 15, 2009), better known as C. D. B. Bryan, was an American author and journalist. Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2009. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich ...

's 1976 book of the same name. The book was in turn was adapted from a series of '' New Yorker'' magazine articles Bryan had written about the Mullens and their ordeal."Peg Mullen (1917- ): Papers, 1968-2003."
Iowa Women's Archives,

University of Iowa Libraries The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...

. Archived fro
the original
on October 20, 2008. Accessed November 25, 2008.

Cast

* Carol Burnett as Peg Mullen *

as Gene Mullen * Sam Waterston as

* Dennis Erdman as Michael E. Mullen * Timothy Hutton as John Mullen * Fanny Spiess as Mary Mullen *

Sherry Hursey Sherry Hursey is an American actress. She is best known for her recurring role as Ilene Markham on the sitcom '' Home Improvement'' and her 1988–1989 stint as Paula Carson on the soap opera ''Days of Our Lives''. Her other television credits i ...

as Patricia Mullen * Michael Flanagan as Father Shimon * Hilly Hicks as Willis Huddleston * William Jordan as Col. Byron Schindler * Vernon Weddle as Col. Georgi *

Jack Rader Jack Rader is a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 176th House district in Monroe County, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state ...

as Sgt. Fitzgerald * Robert Wahler as Alan Hulting *

David Keith David Keith may refer to: * David Keith (novelist) (1906–1994), pen name of American scholar Francis Steegmuller *David Keith (actor) (born 1954), American film and TV performer and director *David Keith (physicist), Canadian-born Harvard Profess ...

as Leroy Hamilton

References

External links

*
''New York Times'' overview of ''Friendly Fire''
{{David Greene 1979 television films 1979 films ABC network original films American television films Vietnam War films Films scored by Leonard Rosenman Films directed by David Greene Films set in the 1970s Films set in Iowa Peabody Award-winning broadcasts

Cast

See also

References

External links