COURAGE UNDER FIRE 65
Hawk he li cop ter. En route to the crash, Walden came face to face with an enemy
T-54 tank. She and her fellow soldiers destroyed the enemy tank, but Walder’s he li -
cop ter was gunned down. The next day, when the two downed crews are fi nally
rescued, Walden is reported dead. Reviewing the testimonies of Walden’s crew, Ser-
ling notices inconsistencies between them. Specialist Andrew Ilario (Matt Damon)
expresses high praise for Walden, but Staff Sgt. John Monfriez (Lou Diamond Phil-
lips) pronounces Walden to be a coward and states that he, Monfriez, eliminated
the enemy tank. Other members of the crew prove incapable of testifying due to
their injuries. The crew of the Black Hawk mentions hearing M16 gunshots, but
Ilario and Monfriez deny that shots were ever fired. Feeling pressure from his supe-
riors to wrap things up, Serling instead leaks the story to a reporter, Tony Gartner
(Scott Glenn), hoping to prevent another cover-up. Serling presses Monfriez dur-
ing a car ride, and the shaken officer forces Serling out of the car at gunpoint before
killing himself by colliding with an oncoming train. Serling is able to track down
Ilario, however, who fi nally tells the true story. Wanting to flee and leave Rady (Tim
Guinee) behind, Monfriez shot Walden in the stomach during a firefight with the
enemy, either accidentally or deliberately. Though wounded, Walden covered her
crew’s retreat with an M16 the next morning, expecting to be rescued later, but
Monfriez told his rescuers that Walden was already dead. As a result A-10 Wart-
hogs dropped napalm on the entire area, finishing off Walden. Ilario was too fright-
ened to tell the truth, and Altameyer was too injured to speak. Serling pres ents his
final report to Hershberg, and Walden’s young daughter, Anne Marie (Christina
Stojanovich), receives the Medal of Honor in her mother’s behalf at a White House
ceremony. Later, Serling meets with Capt. Boylar’s parents (Richard Venture and
Diane Baker) and confesses about the true manner of their son’s death. The Boylars
tell Serling he must forgive himself. The final scene reveals that Capt. Walden was
the pi lot who evacuated Boylar’s body after Serling’s friendly fire incident.
Reception
Running for seven weeks in the summer of 1996 (12 July–22 August; widest release:
2,000 theaters), Courage Under Fire was a solid box office hit, grossing over $59
million domestically and $41.8 million in foreign markets for a worldwide gross of
$100.9 million, representing a $40 million profit. Reviews were mostly positive,
though not effusive. For example, Richard von Busack characterized Edward Zwick
as a liberal making a war movie who, perforce, “alternates between deploring vio-
lence and succumbing to the excitement of battle.” In von Busack’s view, Courage
Under Fire “acknowledges the hellishness of war while admiring the erectness of
the officer’s spine. The film is stalemated. It’s po liti cally neutral, not questioning
the vari ous diplomatic missteps on the part of the United States that encouraged
Sadaam Hussein to think he could get away with annexing Kuwait” (von Busack,
1996).
Reel History Versus Real History
Denied DOD cooperation, Edward Zwick had to use Bell AH-1 Cobra he li cop ters
instead of Black Hawks, though Cobras were sometimes used in the Gulf War. Capt.