Unfriendly Fire: A Mother's Memoir

by Peg Mullen, Albert E. Stone (Foreword by)

Outspoken, fearless, and wickedly humorous, Peg Mullen had a dual mission in the years after Michael's death: to penetrate the lies and evasions, both deliberate and careless, behind the artillery misfire that killed her older son and to publicize - as loudly and as clearly and as often as possible - the senseless horror of the Vietnam War. Unfriendly Fire draws on the many letters sent to the Mullens after Michael's death; in addition, Michael's own bitter, weary letters home are reprinted. In these the voices of parents, brothers, sisters, comrades, teachers, and Michael himself echo Peg Mullen's call for truth and peace.

175 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1995

About the author

Margaret Goodyear "Peg" Mullen (1917–2009) became an antiwar activist after the death of her son in Vietnam, who had been killed by shrapnel fired from friendly artillery in a 1970 incident. She became an active opponent of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and protested against the Gulf War and Iraq War. Her life story was made into the Emmy Award-winning 1979 film Friendly Fire starring Carol Burnett, which was based on a 1976 book of the same name by Courtlandt Bryan.

Reviews

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent memoir. Much like Peg Mullen, the author, this book is short and to the point. In a small number of pages, Peg thoroughly shared her experience of losing her son to the Vietnam War before waging her own war at home against the dishonesty of the military and to seek justice for the families who sacrficed their sons for an unjust war. A quick read but an emotional one.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been doing some reading on the Vietnam war in order to get a better understanding. I am glad to have read Mullen's account as a mother who lost her son to the war and made it her mission to do all in her power to help bring the war to an end.