''Friendly Fire'' is an American

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

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 ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', April 25, 1979, p. C22. Archived fro
the original.
/ref> ''Friendly Fire'' went on to win four Emmy awards, 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 Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. Her groundbreaking comedy variety show ''The Carol Burnett Show'', which originally aired on CBS was one of the first of its kind to be hosted ...

),Gamarekian, Barbara
"Why Carol Burnett Made 'Friendly Fire'."
''

'', April 21, 1979, p. 15. Archived fro
the original.
/ref> a woman from rural

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

who with her husband works against government obstacles to uncover the actual details and facts about the death of their son Michael, an

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

infantry soldier killed by "

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while en ...

" in February 1970 during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. Her husband Gene, a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

veteran, is played by Ned Beatty. Sergeant Mullen was drafted in September 1968 after he graduated from college and sent to South Vietnam (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 Division. It was active from 1967 through 1971 and has been active since 2007 as an Infantry Training Brigade as part of the US Army Infantry School at ...

, 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 Fay Kanin (née Mitchell; May 9, 1917March 27, 2013) was an American screenwriter, playwright and producer. Kanin was President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1979 to 1983. Biography Born Fay Mitchell in New York City t ...

from C. D. B. Bryan's 1976 book of the same name. The book was in turn was adapted from a series of ''

New Yorker New Yorker or ''variant'' primarily refers to: * A resident of the State of New York ** Demographics of New York (state) * A resident of New York City ** List of people from New York City * ''The New Yorker'', a magazine founded in 1925 * '' The ...

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

Cast

as Peg Mullen * Ned Beatty as Gene Mullen *

Sam Waterston Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television and, film. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, and has receive ...

as C. D. B. Bryan * Dennis Erdman as Michael E. Mullen *

Timothy Hutton Timothy Tarquin Hutton (born August 16, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He is the youngest recipient of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at age 20 for his performance as Conrad Jarrett in ''Ordinary People ...

as John Mullen * Fanny Spiess as Mary Mullen * Sherry Hursey as Patricia Mullen * Michael Flanagan as Father Shimon *

Hilly Hicks Hilly Gene Hicks Sr. is an American character actor. Early life Hicks was born in Los Angeles, California. Biography The role for which Hicks is perhaps best known is Lewis Harvey (the younger son of Alex Haley's second great-grandfather Chic ...

as Willis Huddleston * William Jordan as Col. Byron Schindler *

Vernon Weddle Vernon Weddle Jr. (born August 23, 1935) is an American film, stage and television actor. He is perhaps best known for playing "General Washburne" in the 1986 film ''Short Circuit''. Life and career Weddle was born in Hattiesburg, Mississipp ...

as Col. Georgi * Jack Rader as Sgt. Fitzgerald * Robert Wahler as Alan Hulting * David Keith 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