“S*** rolls downward” an old army phrase is what exactly happened to 1st platoon of the 101st Airborne Division. Black Hearts is a fictional book on soldiers in the 101st Airborne division in the 502 Infantry Regiment during deployment to Iraq in 2005. Black Hearts is a book which gives the reader the point of views the different types of stress a soldier goes through during a deployment both physically and especially mentally. The book goes in depth and paints realistic events throughout the deployment and the impact it had one specific company. In 2005, the Iraqi war was one of the worst times to be in Iraq for the United States Military. The number of IEDS have increased and become more dangerous as the Iraqi insurgents started to perfect them as the war went on. The majority of the book took place Baghdad Iraq also known as the Triangle of Death. During this time the IED’s, indirect, and direct fire were common and resulted in a high number of casualties and injuries of US soldiers. This placed a lot of stress on the soldier and showed the different types reactions caused by stress. Many images and sites a soldier sees during deployment disturb the soldier and shown differently from each. The toll of the destructive and disturbing scenery would change soldiers’ lives forever. The description a soldiers described when going out on a patrol was that he was always tense. He knew there was going to be an IED but he didn’t know if was going to get him. An example a soldier gave out was if a person who routinely checked the mail box every day, had his routine changed up with an explosive having a one in four chance to be in the mail. The person knows it is there but has to open the mail box. The example describes the anticipation ... ... middle of paper ... ... Lt Britt’s body flew into the canal and Lopez’s body was obliterated. CPT Goodwin was then devastated. The event traumatized him in words you I cannot describe. LTC Kunk heard of the news and gave CPT Goodwin a couple days off in the green zone. The CPT took the time to recuperate from the loss of soldiers and the decision that ultimately killed them. Ultimately I chose CPT Goodwin because the obstacles he had to overcome. Even though his decision making was spot on most of the time, he did have the one mistake which ended up costing his soldiers life. CPT Goodwin was able to overcome the decision and continue on with his military career. He then found out about the murders and reported them to LTC Kunk. No decision lingered with him and affected other decision he had later on. He knew that deaths were in the job description and did not let that affect him at all.
The 23rd RCT received the mission to defend Chipyong-Ni in an attempt to bait the CCF to attack with a large force that could be defeated, but the RCT was at 70% strength following the battle at Twin Tunnels (some units were at 60%). The RCT received intelligence reports of multiple CCF Divisions marching towards Chipyong-Ni. COL Freeman requested the RCT be allowed to pull back 15 miles to prevent encirclement and was approved by MG Almond, but was overturned by LTG Ridgway. LTG Ridgway, the newly assigned Eighth Army Commander, did not allow retreat and always wanted to make contact with the enemy. He relieved his G-3 on the spot for giving him retreat contingency plans.
For a moment be any black person, anywhere, and you will feel waves of hopelessness” is a profound notion that highlights William Grier and Price Cobbs’ work in Black Rage. With astonishing information backed with real case studies, from previous black patients, they explore the terrain of the black experience in America. The unearthing critique of America they developed in the late sixties remains relevant in today’s turbulent times. Grier and Cobbs (GC) paint a very valid picture of black rage from its inception to its impact in the lives of black people.
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 main theory behind such writing is awakening the people back at home, and showing them the seriousness of the situation. Instead of sugar-coating details, or giving just positive accounts of war, it is essential to tell the peopl...
Do we control the judgments and decisions that we make every day? In the book,
Post-traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that develops when an individual experiences or lives through a life-threatening event. (NIH 2010) These individuals react with intense fear, helplessness, or horror. On a daily basis, the Troops overseas live through life-threatening events. These events are why 12-30% of warfighters develop combat-related PTSD. Troops are prepared for duty but are unprepared for psychological effects of war. We can witness the effects of PTSD in American Literature. One unusual example of these impacts could be shown in the novel, The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is a symbol of combat-related PTSD, which he inquires during World War One(WWI) while stationed with the 17th Infantry. Throughout the novel, Gatsby is described to have many symptoms and risk factors of PTSD. Jay Gatsby’s
Some of Lt. Michael P. Murphy’s contributions was being a part of a team dedicated
Imagine being in an ongoing battle where friends and others are dying. All that is heard are bullets being shot, it smells like gas is near, and hearts race as the times goes by. This is similar to what war is like. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, the narrator, Paul Baumer, and his friends encounter the ideals of suffering, death, pain, and despair. There is a huge change in these men; at the beginning of the novel they are enthusiastic about going into the war. After they see what war is really like, they do not feel the same way about it. During the war the men experience many feelings especially the loss of loved ones. These feelings are shown through their first experience at training camp, during the actual battles, and in the hospital.
War. When the word is said, what immediately comes to one’s mind is a battlefield; blaring guns, generals screaming orders as planes roar overhead, with soldiers watching as their comrades have unimaginably gruesome deaths. The same is expected for a novel about war. The main character is enlisted and goes through all of the aforementioned things and then some. However, one book does not fit under this stereotype. Even though a huge theme in this novel is war, not a single gun is fired throughout the entire story. Not only that, but the main character does not share his time in the war until the last few pages of the book. This is because the novel accurately depicts the effects of an actual war instead of a romanticized version of one. By showing the impact of war on
According to the previous reviews of Phil Klay’s book, countless human manifestations results from collisions with young and armed Americans with a foreign country, whereby a few of them understands. Reviews captures on the manner in which the war evoked as well as emotions, predicaments, and heartbreaks. The reader looks forward to understand the outcome of the war. However, what makes the reader apprehensive is that the stories resonate with themes, such as battle, images of outstanding battleground pain, as well as psychological trauma due to the nature of the war, nuances of human nature and the associated violence.
In Brian Turner’s poem “Jundee Ameriki” (American soldier), he gives gruesome details of a situation that triggered posttraumatic stress disorder in a soldier of war. The poem, written in 2009, addresses a suicide bombing which occurred during the War on Iraq in November of 2005. At first the poem shares the events of his doctor’s visit. While getting the shrapnel fragments removed, the soldier is quickly reminded of the horrific events that led to the injury. The poem then begins to describe the emotional effects of posttraumatic stress disorder. The narrator uses symbolism and the structure of the poem to demonstrate how the emotional pain of posttraumatic stress disorder is much greater than the physical pain it causes (even if the emotional
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.
“Black Awakening in Capitalist America”, Robert Allen’s critical analysis of the structure of the U.S.’s capitalist system, and his views of the manner in which it exploits and feeds on the cultures, societies, and economies of less influential peoples to satiate its ever growing series of needs and base desires. From a rhetorical analysis perspective, Allen describes and supports the evidence he sees for the theory of neocolonialism, and what he sees as the black people’s place within an imperial society where the power of white influence reigns supreme. Placing the gains and losses of the black people under his magnifying glass, Allen describes how he sees the ongoing condition of black people as an inevitable occurrence in the spinning cogs of the capitalist machine.
O’Brien’s unique verisimilitude writing style fills the novel with deep meaning and emotion. Analyzing the novel through a psychological lens only adds to its allure. Understanding why characters act the way they do helps bring this novel to life. The reader begins to empathize with the characters. Every day, the soldiers’ lives hang in the balance. How these soldiers react to life-threatening situations will inspire the reader. Life has an expiration date. Reading about people who are held captive by their minds and who die in the name of war, will inspire the reader to live everyday as if they are currently in the
Mr. Davis tries to help us understand that what the men and women of the military experience, “combat or none, is a very, very long period of extended absence from comfort, security, families, and breaks” (Forbes). In war scenarios, there may be car bombs, roadside bombs, suicide bombers, mortars, or in the worst of scenarios, actual fighting. Whatever the case, these men and women are subjected to “months and months of a slow drone and a psychological beating” (Forbes). And then everything is supposed to be fine when they come home. Right? No! These soldiers are excited to be home, at first, to see their families and friends, and go to their favorite hangouts. Then comes the residual stress of combat. There is a harshness during deployment that civilians do not ever experience. This harshness is added to the natural stress of constantly worrying about being attacked, or worse, killed. “You are suspicious, tightly wound, and easily angered.” (Forbes) Sergeant Davis explains that upon returning home, many soldiers don’t “mesh well” with their families (Forbes). The soldier tries to acclimate himself or herself back into the life they left. This is exactly the problems Hemingway wrote about in Soldier’s