Unfriendly Fire: A Mother’s Memoir

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.