Black Hearts Book Review

In the book Black Hearts: One Platoon’s Descent into Madness in Iraq’s Triangle of Death, author Jim Frederick explores the events during the deployment of the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division and more specifically the actions of 1st Platoon, Bravo Company. Bravo Company, along with the rest of 1st Battalion faced grueling circumstances of inadequate supplies and personnel, poor living quarters, and a near constant barrage of enemy attacks during their 2005-2006 deployment to the poignantly named, “Triangle of Death” of southern Baghdad, Iraq. In the midst of that chaos, four men committed one of the most well publicized and heinous war crimes committed by U.S. forces in modern warfare. Four men from 1st Platoon, …show more content…
In terms of the Army values, his consistent, systematic, and unreasonable disrespect of company leadership goes far beyond mere authoritarian style. In consequence, his failure to respect his subordinates caused his subordinates to lose respect for him. Without this core leader attribute, his role in the actions of Bravo Company is far more infamously pronounced than it could have been if had been more respectful of his men. On the flip side, his sense of duty was almost disproportionally outweighing any other leadership qualities. His need to impress higher command and to have his men complete tasks, no matter what the cost did set high standards, that some company commanders, (with a different set of missions) did achieve. In regards to establishing a foothold in the “triangle of death” he succeeded due to his extreme sense of duty. Overall, no one man is responsible for Bravo Company’s 1st Platoons’ “decent into madness.” However, the top to bottom incapability of leadership to realize their units’ limits and ability to control the men when they became inconsolable ultimately led to this tragic