The book opens with a squad of soldiers manning a tactical checkpoint just outside a village called Yusufiyah. They are approached when a man, Abu Muhammad, found his cousin's family brutally murdered not too far away. Sergeant Tony Yribe and 3 others went to investigate. Although it was a terrible scene, Sgt. Yribe had simply assumed that it was like most other situations in Iraq in that the family was the victim of Iraqis attacking other Iraqis. The only thing that bothered him was that there was a rifle shell and Iraqis don't normally use rifles. From there you jump back to before the deployment. It dates back to the time Colonel Todd Ebel took command of the 2nd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division. He was assigned the task of conquering a particularly difficult area of ​​Iraq, to ​​do so he sent the 502nd or as they were known, the Black Hearts. They were identified by the black patch each would have on the side of their helmets. The initial task was to replace the guard unit that was currently in the area of ​​operations and continue the mission from there, which would prove to be very challenging. He divided his work by assigning Lieutenant Colonel Tom Kunk the easternmost urban area of ​​the “death triangle.” LTC Kunk is described as a direct and engaging leader. He was harsh and did not get along very well with his subordinate leaders who constantly humiliated and clashed with them. The area that LTC Kunk was taking over had been in decline for some time. Since the fall of Saddam, the situation for the civilian population in the area had been getting worse and worse. Relations between Sunnis and Shiites became increasingly tense and crime increased. Rebel groups like ... middle of paper ... also began to slip. With all the respect men had for him, he could have easily corrected the situation when it started. Sergeant Yribe didn't do his duty as a junior noncommissioned officer when things started to get worse, so things only got worse. This is what causes lead, alcohol use, drug use, and disregard for Army operating standards and procedures. It grew to the point where the soldiers were past the point where they cared anymore. With nothing holding them back, the soldiers fell into a state of apathy that allowed them to rape a young girl and kill her and her family. Sergeant Yribe was then informed that his own soldier was responsible for the crime and did not have the personal courage to do what should have been done as soon as he was given the information. His lack of duty and personal courage directly contributed to the rape and murder of an innocent Iraqi family.