“Of all the crimes that have stained the U.S. Army's past in Iraq... the murder of an entire Iraqi family in the village of Yusufiya may be considered the more chilling” (New York Times). On March 12, 2006, after a long and difficult deployment with countless casualties, four soldiers committed atrocities against the civilians they tried to help. Their actions damaged the reputation of coalition forces and endangered the lives of our brothers in arms by providing propaganda to the enemy as a recruiting tool to thwart our mission. The 502nd Infantry and 101st Airborne Division are a unit synonymous with valor, honor, brotherhood and courage, as depicted in the popular HBO series Band of Brothers in which Dick Winters leads his men through some of the most notable engagements during World War II starting on D-Day and ending with the capture of Hitler's personal home at Eagle's Nest. The level of stress endured by the modern 502nd is comparable to their time during World War II. The main difference is the command climate. Winters led from the front, motivated his men, and completed his mission. LTC Tom Kunk failed to rally his men when they were beaten and shot down. He demoralized his company commanders to the point that they were paralyzed with fear and could not lead their soldiers. Ultimately, Kunk failed to maintain command and control of his battalion, leading to the failure of the overall mission he was assigned. The book Black Hearts is a narrative focused on telling the story of these failures. The author, Jim Fredericks, spent many months researching, interviewing soldiers, and reading court documents to write the book. It follows the hardships that the members endured, leading up to the incident that resulted in four soldiers… middle of paper… what happens in a real deployment or how a normal unit behaves. The general reception the book received was a recommendation that all Army leaders read it. Many reviewers of the book say it is an important read about failure and lack of leadership in an Army platoon. I wholeheartedly agree with the logic that all future Army leaders should read this book to get an idea of ​​what can happen when leadership is lacking in a stressful situation. As Joshua Hammer stated, published in the New York Times, “Frederick's extraordinary book is testimony to an ill-conceived war and to the ease with which ordinary men, under certain conditions, can transform into monsters.” Strong leadership is critical in preparing soldiers for the stressful situations they will encounter and the book presents a crucial case where strong leadership was absent..