Black Hearts Book Report

I chose the book Black Hearts by Jim Frederick because it was recommended to me by First Lieutenant Smaldone. He had to read it as course material during his training at TBS (The Basic School). Officers go to TBS following Officer Candidate School where newly commissioned officers learn to lead and inspire fellow Marines. Black Hearts is a non-fiction story about the 502nd Infantry Regiment’s deployment to a region south of Baghdad, Iraq and it’s breakdown of leadership, morale, and discipline. The Unit was known as “The Black Heart Brigade.” and were deployed in late 2005 to the Triangle of Death. A name given to a region of Baghdad which saw constant combat activity and violence from 2003-2007 by U.S. and allied forces. March 12, 2006 is the day where a few young men from Bravo company First Platoon will perform the most heinous act the Iraq War will see. Black Hearts reveals to us why some men fail in the battlefield and why leadership at the highest level can have an everlasting effect on the morale of the men under their command. In the accounts of the unit’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Tom Kunk, was not seen as a great leader if one at all by the accounts of his subordinates. A memorial service was held for Three soldiers

The story gives me a newfound respect for the Army and the soldiers who were deployed in Iraq around that time because of the constant harassment the insurgents gave the unit. Not because of the war crimes that were committed. It was a magnificent book about the implications and psychological effects war can have on people and what it can lead them do, It has a lot of examples of good and bad leadership that I can take away from it and apply it to my own leadership style. And I can be more prepared in dealing with peers and subordinates in times of