60 Minutes: Friendly Fire

In the best tradition of 60 Minutes, reporter Steve Kroft and producer Harry A. Radliffe II convey in microcosm the tactics, emotions and implications of the events of the Persian Gulf War. As technological warfare becomes ever more precise human error is not eliminated, but instead can be magnified with terrible and tragic results. For the first time in American history a friendly fire accident was taken all the way into the public domain and the individual responsible for the accident was named. In telling this man’s story: his actions, their impact on the families of the victims of the accident and the implications for the modern military, 60 Minutes presented the viewer with a greater understanding of the horrors of war. For its sensitive and thoughtful examination of these issues, a Peabody to CBS News 60 Minutes for “Friendly Fire.”