Unfriendly fire : a mother's memoir /

C. D. B. Bryan's book Friendly Fire was written about the death of Mullen's son in Vietnam as the result of inadvertent firing from other American troops. This book is Mullen's response to Bryan's work as well as an elaboration on all that has happened since that book (and the spin-off TV movie) appeared in the 1970s. The death of her son launched the transformation of Mullen from an Idaho farm woman to one of the most vociferous war protesters. She traveled across the nation to Washington, D.C., and to visit other bereaved parents, spreading her antiwar message. She fought unceasingly to stop the war and to ease the anguish of her generation. Her valor rings through in this guileless presentation. (Reviewed May 01, 1995)0877455066Denise Perry Donavin

The author's son died in an artillery attack fired by his own side in Vietnam in 1971. That tragedy and its aftermath at home were recounted in C.F. Bryan's Friendly Fire (1976), the basis for a made-for-TV movie starring Carol Burnett. Mullen's telling of those events answers questions about her responses to the callous attitude of the military (and the effect it could have had on the American prosecution of the war) with intelligence and more courage than many might have under the same circumstances. She was lauded by members of Congress, made a heroine by fellow survivors, and during an antiwar demonstration was attacked by police. Here is a frank insight into the years of the conflict and how they affected the nation that watched from afar. A revealing document; recommended for those with interest in the Vietnam War.‘Mel D. Lane, Sacramento, Cal. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.