Black Hearts tells the story of some bad soldiers of the 1st Platoon, Bravo Company of the 1-502nd Infantry Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division, plagued by leadership toxic. and lack of control over soldiers. The book documents the events that led to the final deaths of the soldiers involved in the horrific incident that occurred on March 12, 2006. Four soldiers were arrested in the brutal murder of an Iraqi family, a result of the lack of leadership and structure that these soldiers received. Black Hearts takes an in-depth look at what happened to this struggling platoon and what unfortunate events occurred during their deployment. This entire battalion was at a disadvantage before leaving the States, given the mission to replace the 48th Infantry Brigade in southern Baghdad. Unlike the usual five to six months a unit typically had to conduct reconnaissance and gather information about the AO it would occupy, the 1st Battalion had to gather everything it could in 6 weeks. LTC Kunk was chosen by Colonel Ebel to lead the fight in the population centers because he believed he would be engaging and able to communicate with others. This proved to be the first major problem in the chain of command that could hamper the effectiveness of operations. While at JRTC preparing the deployment of the 1st platoon, Bravo Company made a tactical error resulting in the capture of 9 soldiers. Even with this information, Kunk had developed a plan without input from any of his company commanders, and he would not accept any input or use the resources available to him. LTC had little or no support for communicating with his subordinates, destroying trust in his commanders and ruining his lines of communication. If the...... middle of paper ......before because he wouldn't ask his soldiers to do anything he wouldn't be willing to do himself. He demonstrated great personal courage in leading this lifestyle, realizing that his chances of surviving deployment were very slim and nevertheless volunteered to put his life on the line as often as he had. the means. He was also very loyal to the people to his left and right. He would take an extra shift to allow his platoon members to get more sleep, thereby removing the stress of constant action for his subordinates. Although he was only in command for a short time, he is still credited with allowing his platoon to maintain the relaxed standards that they initially struggled with and which were the cause of 'much of the abuse they received from LTC Kunk. He did not meet the standards and therefore did not fulfill his duty to maintain his platoon to army standards..