Courage Under Fire is a 1996 American war drama film directed by Edward Zwick, and starring Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan.

The United States Army covers up the friendly fire incident, awards Serling a medal for bravery, and transfers him to a desk job.

Staff Sergeant John Monfriez claims that Walden was a coward and that he led the crew in combat and improvised the fuel bladder weapon.

Sergeant Steven Altameyer, who is dying of cancer in a hospital and was initially hard for Serling to find, complains about a fire in one of his few coherent comments.

Feeling guilty about the cover up in the friendly fire incident, Serling leaks the existence of a tape of the attack to newspaper reporter Tony Gartner.

Altameyer tried to expose Monfriez's lie at the time, but was too injured to speak, and Ilario remained silent, scared of the court-martial Walden had threatened them with.

[2] Lacking such access, the film-makers had to source equipment elsewhere, including having former Australian Army Centurian tanks modified to resemble the M1 Abrams depicted in the production.

James Berardinelli of the website ReelViews wrote that the film was, "As profound and intelligent as it is moving, and that makes this memorable motion picture one of 1996's best.

"[10] Denzel Washington's acting was specifically lauded, as Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "In Washington's haunted eyes, in the stunning cinematography of Roger Deakins (Fargo) that plunges into the mad flare of combat, in the plot that deftly turns a whodunit into a meditation on character and in Zwick's persistent questioning of authority, Courage Under Fire honors its subject and its audience.

[13] Denzel Washington was nominated for Best Actor at the 1996 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, but lost to Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade.

The Medal of Honor was awarded to Mary Edwards Walker, an American Civil War physician, but not for valor in combat.