Jim Frederick’s book Black Hearts: One Platoon’s Descent Into Madness in Iraq’s Triangle of Death is focused on a crime and all the events that had led up to it. By the fall of 2005, 2nd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division was approaching deployment to Iraq. The book talks about the soldiers deployed to the Triangle of Death during a very dangerous time. 101st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division was taken over by insurgents at a checkpoint just southwest of Mahmudiyah. This incident led to a soldier being dead at the scene and two missing. The bodies had been taken hostage; they were mutilated, beheaded, burned and booby-trapped with explosives. A few weeks later, March 2006, four U.S. soldiers had been part of a rape of a fourteen-year-old girl. During the rape the girls, father, mother and six-year-old sister were all killed. This crime was terrible, the girl had been raped, was murdered and her body was then burned by the U.S. soldiers. 1st PLT consisted of thirty-three soldiers. Lt. Col. Kunk treated his subordinates with hostiles and impatience. Instead of being a leader and coaching and correcting their mistakes, Lt. Col. Kunk would shout, humiliate and disparage his soldiers. Lieutenant Ben Britt, 24-years-old, led 1st PLT and was respected by his men, as he was a leader who led from the front. The first mission 1st …show more content…
1st PLT was beginning to participate in multi-day rotations out to Rushdi Mullah, as well as the company’s battle rhythms. 1st PLT soldiers were starting to shave, wear the uniform properly and improving one anthers attitude about the situations. During May 1st PLT was part of many firefights and had two of their men, Tucker and Menchaca, who were captured. The bodies were found a couple days later two miles northeast of the power plant. Kunk, in the end, said 1st PLT was to point the finger at for 1st PLT’s problems. The investigation of the incident took only 11