06/15/2017
Mauro Hantman gives a serious reading of this moving account of a family's trauma during the Vietnam War. Michael Mullen was a farm kid and college student from Iowa who was killed in 1970 by "friendly fire": American artillery fire landed on his position and killed him while he was sleeping. This occurs more often in war than most realize, and the Mullens' experience of dealing with Michael's death—from the casualty notification call and gleaning from the army how Michael actually died to their feelings as they endured the grieving process and Michael's mother's antiwar activism—is well described. The author's descriptions of the family's emotions in the aftermath are very well expressed. Hantman speaks clearly, enunciates well, and moves at a pace that is easy to follow. He is rather understated but avoids overdramatizing in a work full of drama. VERDICT Public libraries may wish to consider.—Michael T. Fein, Central Virginia Community Coll., Lynchburg
Drafted into the US Army, Michael Mullen left his family's Iowa farm in September 1969 to fight for his country in Vietnam. Six months later, Michael was killed, not by the North Vietnamese, but by artillery fire from friendly forces. With the government failing to provide the precise circumstances of his death, Mullen's devastated parents, Peg and Gene, demanded to know the truth. A year later, Peg Mullen was under FBI surveillance. In a riveting narrative that moves from the American heartland to the jungles of Vietnam, to an interview with Mullen's battalion commander, Lt. Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Bryan brings to life a military mission gone wrong, a family's explosive confrontation with their government, and the tragedy of a nation at war with itself.
1000020515
Friendly Fire
Drafted into the US Army, Michael Mullen left his family's Iowa farm in September 1969 to fight for his country in Vietnam. Six months later, Michael was killed, not by the North Vietnamese, but by artillery fire from friendly forces. With the government failing to provide the precise circumstances of his death, Mullen's devastated parents, Peg and Gene, demanded to know the truth. A year later, Peg Mullen was under FBI surveillance. In a riveting narrative that moves from the American heartland to the jungles of Vietnam, to an interview with Mullen's battalion commander, Lt. Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Bryan brings to life a military mission gone wrong, a family's explosive confrontation with their government, and the tragedy of a nation at war with itself.
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940175702768 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Dreamscape Media |
| Publication date: | 01/24/2017 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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