This novel is a story about a group of soldiers apart of the 101st airborne division, 502nd infantry regiment, who became known as the “Black Hearts Brigade.” Deployed to an area known as the “Triangle of Death”, just south of Baghdad, this area was known for being the most dangerous throughout the country of Iraq. Struck with indirect fire, constant insurgent attacks, IED’s, a heavy death toll, and the constant rage and distraught of the war turned some members of the first platoon, Bravo Company, first battalion into a group of poorly disciplined, brutal soldiers who would take their frustration out onto the civilians of Iraq. Ultimately, this incident, which was caused by four members of first platoon, would be considered one of the most …show more content…
Kunk also did not create a shared understanding with his inferiors, nor did he care to supply them with the correct amount of resources. “Staffing became a constant and contentious topic of discussion at battalion wide meetings as well as during one-on-one consultation between battalion staff officers and company-level leaders” and “companies routinely declared they did not have enough men.” (116) However, Kunk did not believe this and would always claim that his leaders were just not using their resources efficiently; an answer that did not sit well with company commanders. On top of Kunk’s lack of guidance on resources was his uncanny ability to make his inferiors feel like they were 100 percent part of the problem. If a soldier was not wearing the uniform correctly or even if a soldier died, it was not due to the circumstance or the chain of command, it was because of the company leadership. For example, when SSG Nelson and SGT Casica were killed, it was because “they each failed to maintain discipline at the TCP.” (145) Kunk hammered this message into the brains of the soldiers and they resented him for it. “If you are a battalion commander, you don’t have to tell every last Joe that the reason your team leader and your squad leader are dead is because you are pieces of shit” (145) is what Yribe observed. Those soldiers needed to be motivated and instead they were criticized for their leadership, even though in my eyes, in order to lead one must follow first, and those soldiers followed LTC
Black Hearts was about the 2005-2006 deployment of the 101st‘s second brigade‘s 1-502nd (First Strike) to Iraq. The book more specifically honed in on Bravo Company and their first platoon’s decent into complete madness throughout the deployment. The 1-502nd and its commander Lt Col Kunk, was tasked with the mission of getting control of and hold the land in-between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Kunk was a particularly difficult man to get along with. He would explode and go on a tirade over just about anything, big or small. This caused serious problems at meetings when he only wanted things his way and would personally attack his commanders who he thought he could not trust. This area had been recently dubbed as the “Triangle of death”. The cities that were in this area were Yusufiyah, Mahmudiyah, Lutufiyah, and notably a thermal power plant that was never finished that housed many insurgents almost like a FOB. Bravo Company was sent to take care of a particularly nasty part of the Battalion’s AO; The north-western-side that encompassed Yusufiyah and the unfinished thermal power plant. Upon arrival to Iraq and to their AO, Bravo Company was to take over the duties of the 48th infantry brigade who was there before them. After riding around with the 48th Brigade to learn how things were being run, Bravo Company started to realize how scared the 48th were to even leave the wire. Any patrols that needed to be done were done in a Humvee that just raced around the area and got back to the FOB ASAP. Once they fully took over their AO from the 48th they started on building up fortifications and doing patrols of the area. One road in particular, Route Sportster, had been giving patrols and Humvees trouble since it was always laden...
The book opens with a squad of soldiers running a tactical control point just outside of a village called Yusufiyah. They are approached when a man Abu Muhammad had found his cousins family brutally murdered not too far off. Sgt. Tony Yribe and 3 others went to go investigate it. Although it was a terrible scene Sgt. Yribe had just assumed that it was like most other situations in Iraq in that the family was a victim of Iraqis attacking other Iraqis. The one thing that bothered him was that there was a shotgun shell and Iraqis do not normally use shotguns.
The book Outlaw Platoon written by Sean Parnell is a soldiers’ tale of his platoon in one of the most dangerous places on earth. This book is a non-fiction riveting work that tells the story of a platoon that spent sixteen months on an operating base in the Bermel Valley, the border of Pakistan. This mission the men were sent on was part of a mission called Operation Enduring Freedom. This book is extremely relevant to the war that we are still fighting in Afghanistan and the humanitarian work that continues. We still have men in this area fighting and losing their lives everyday. It is the focus of ongoing political debates and the purpose of our involvement there is an ongoing question in the minds of many Americans. In writing this book, Parnell makes it clear in his author’s notes that he indeed was not trying to pursue one political agenda over another. His goal as not to speak of all members of the platoon and expose their identities and the types of soldiers they were but instead to showcase some of the men’s bravery and abilities during the war. Parnell believed that he owed it to the men to write something that would show the world what these men go through during combat in an honest and raw account. Another purpose of Parnell’s in writing this book is an attempt at making sure these men are given a place in American war history.
O’Brien, Tim. “How To Tell a True War Story.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2003. p. 420-429.
In the aftermath of a comparatively minor misfortune, all parties concerned seem to be eager to direct the blame to someone or something else. It seems so easy to pin down one specific mistake that caused everything else to go wrong in an everyday situation. However, war is a vastly different story. War is ambiguous, an enormous and intangible event, and it cannot simply be blamed for the resulting deaths for which it is indirectly responsible. Tim O’Brien’s story, “In the Field,” illustrates whom the soldiers turn to with the massive burden of responsibility for a tragedy. The horrible circumstances of war transform all involved and tinge them with an absurd feeling of personal responsibility as they struggle to cope.
It is definitely a negative characteristic that someone with as short as a fuse as LTC. Kunk, would be put in such a position in the first place. What I didn’t comprehend is why Konk was capable of understanding and communicating with Iraqi civilians upon missions but for some reason felt like he didn’t need to pay his own soldiers the same respect. Unexceptable. Taking into account that I’m a communication major I can’t help but stress how important communication is. Therefore I consider this characteristics to be the most valuable and the main result of the downward spiral of events of 1st platoon. I would also disagree that my negative characteristic is the same. I could be a more effective communicator but it is not because I yell at the problem but more because I just need to better organize my speech and what I’m trying to convey.
Wallace Terry has collected a wide range of stories told by twenty black Vietnam veterans. The stories are varied based on each experience; from the horrific to the heart breaking and to the glorified image of Vietnam depicted by Hollywood. Wallace Terry does not insinuate his opinion into any of the stories so that the audience can feel as if they are having a conversation with the Vietnam Veteran himself. Terry introduces the purpose of the book by stating, “ Among the 20 men who portray their war and postwar experiences in this book. I sought a representative cross section of the black combat force.”(p. XV) Although the stories in this book were not told in any specific order, many themes became prominent throughout the novel such as religion, social, and health.
We can identify three major cultural dimensions that help us to understand what leaders must focus on as they guide the transition of the Army. First, professional Identity, which is guided by Soldiers at all levels who are striving for excellence in their functional specialty, i.e., HR Sergeants. Soldiers who have goals and ideals of the Army to ethically put service and duty first. HR Sergeants are trained and well educated in their field. They are taught to put Soldiers first and have great customer support skills. Second, community, the sense in which Soldiers stop thinking about “I” and start thinking “we”. The bond among units who not only believe in cohesion with Soldiers, but their families too. The HR Sergeants are there to take care of Soldiers when financial issues arise with them or their families and don’t back down until the situation is solved. Last, hierarchy, which leads to order and control and provides Soldiers with moral reference and a sense of direction. The HR Sergeant has the mentality of mission first, knowing who to contact at the next level for assistance helps get the mission
I would recommend this book to a friend because the reader is able to comprehend different aspects of the war. This novel is written in an upfront style, which makes it easy for the reader to follow along. I am thinking about including something about how war gives soldiers mental disorders for my thesis argument. I would like to write about the mental health of our troops for my research paper. I intend to focus on psychological disorders and mental illness.
...it may help us arrive at an understanding of the war situation through the eyes of what were those of an innocent child. It is almost unique in the sense that this was perhaps the first time that a child soldier has been able to directly give literary voice to one of the most distressing phenomena of the late 20th century: the rise of the child-killer. While the book does give a glimpse of the war situation, the story should be taken with a grain of salt.
David Cordingly is a maritime historian and the author of many historical pirate books. Cordingly’s book Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates shows how the pirates of fictional works have shifted from the reality of pirates’ lifestyles. The book describes the life of pirate crews along with documented evidence as proof to make the book fascinating and full of interesting information.
When the war breaks out, this tranquil little town seems like the last place on earth that could produce a team of vicious, violent soldiers. Soon we see Jim thrown into a completely contrasting `world', full of violence and fighting, and the strong dissimilarity between his hometown and this new war-stricken country is emphasised. The fact that the original setting is so diversely opposite to that if the war setting, the harsh reality of the horror of war is demonstrated.
Band of Brothers is a fascinating book that captures moments lived by soldiers during World War II. It specifically relates to the History of a small unit of paratroopers known as Easy Company, 506 Regiment, 101st Airborne. It is a story that follows the company from its inception to the capture of Hitler’s nest. It begins with the training of these soldiers at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. The 140 members of easy company who were young men from different social levels were physically and mentally trained. This particular company had an extremely harsh training, but many believe it is because of this training that they were considered as one of the best rifle companies in the army.
In the past one hundred years, war has greatly influenced the dark themes that have emerged in storytelling, as well as how an author executes their story’s tone, style, structure. Ever since the world was first exposed to war on a large scale in the 20th century, it has impacted many, especially the soldiers involved. Some of these soldiers, like Kurt Vonnegut and Ernest Hemingway, went on to become war writers. Even though their view of war contrasts, it is also similar in some aspects. Hemingway and Vonnegut both agree that war is atrocious in all ways. An HBO Documentary called Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq supports this belief as well, even though the time span of Hemingway and Vonnegut’s works are at most one hundred years before
The 66-mile forced march was cruel and it ended the lives of many American soldiers. In the book Tears In The Darkness The Story Of The Bataan Death March And It’s Aftermath, by Michael Norman and Elizabeth M. Norman, it give readers insight on how the Japanese soldier’s fought the Americans during the battle of World War II. A boy named Ben Steele was a soldier in this war. He enlisted because he wanted to see the world, and throughout this book the author tells the story through his eyes. This is a book that tells the story of the cruelty of the Bataan March and the battle between American and Filipino soldiers.