CNN's coverage of the Gulf War. Holliman was part of the live coverage of the January 17, 1991 Baghdad air strike where he, along with colleagues Bernard Shaw and Peter Arnett, kept broadcasting from their Al-Rasheed Hotel room amid extensive aerial bombing by the Western Coalition forces. John Holliman played himself in the science fiction film Contact (1997), based on the Carl Sagan novel of the same name. 6711 Holliman (1989 HG) is a main-belt asteroid named for him. References External links 1948 births 1998 deaths People from Thomaston, Georgia American television journalists Place of birth missing Road incident deaths in Georgia (U.S. state) CNN people American male journalists