Jim Frederick (1971–2014)

I was lent this book by a work mate of mine who recommended it to me. He said it was similar to another book I read at some point last year called Tiger Force. That was about a task force during the Vietnam war that committed a number of war crimes. As Black Hearts also concentrated on a case I had read about I was very interested in reading the true story behind it.

The vast majority of the book is about more than just the murder and rape in question. It also starts at the beginning of their tour of duty and the circumstances surrounding it. The sheer lack of leadership, equipment, support and care given by those higher up the chain of command was simply astonishing from the outset. Their area of operation had no where to sleep, no running water, no heating during the night and no air con during the day. They were also often under manned meaning that they went for weeks on end with only 4 or 5 hours sleep a day. This coupled with the crippling fear of constant attack and the death of comrades eventually lead to cracks appearing in the group.

Commanders on the group were slow to address this but when they did and raised their concerns with their superiors it was ignored. When it was recommended that that certain soldiers were removed from combat due to their mental states this often fell on deaf ears. The atrocity carried out was heinous and made very difficult reading with a lot of mixed emotions. It is almost impossible to feel any sympathy with those who did the crime but I couldn't help but feel that the superior officers should hold some blame for what happened.

As the book reaches its conclusion the way that people like Tom Kunk were absolved of any responsibility is quite sickening. He is portrayed by all the men interviewed as a thoroughly horrible person and he could have prevented what happened many times over. The brave man who came forward as a whistle blower was treated very poorly by the military and it is clear to see that the army tried to sweep it under the carpet.… (more)

If you want an understanding of what it must be like living under the communist regime in North Korea this book will give you a glimpse.

It follows an American soldier on his third assignment (second in South Korea) who was worried about doing combat patrols there. He was afraid of the possible violence. He doesn't go in depth as to what about combat made him afraid. He also knew that his unit back in the USA was being activated to be sent to Vietnam (a conflict in it's opening phases of US involvement). He was afraid he was going to be sent home eventually to be sent right back out again and into combat. Again, no information as to why someone what had been in the Army the length of time he had was so uncomfortable about going into combat. Fear is natural but just finishing several other books about WWII veterans part of doing your duty is engaging the enemy in spite of your fear. SSgt Jenkins did know how/did not want to do this.

He thought if he slipped over the border into North Korea they would turn him over to the Russians and they would trade him back the USA where he would be court-martialed out of the Army and avoid combat. Easy peezy right? His plan failed to work. North Korea captured him as he planned but refused to let him go. They thrust North Korean citizenship on him and worked to indoctrinate him into the communist society with a couple other soldiers they had either captured or had defected. SSgt Jenkins would be a prisoner for 40 years.

One of the interesting things about the North Korean communist culture was the attitude of self critisism that was required. Every day SSgt Jenkins was required to write in a diary about his failure in some way to follow the teachings of the beloved leader of the country. Perhaps how he failed to maintain some piece of property and as a result it broke. How this did not live up the standards of communism and honor the dear leader and how he would change his life to do better. Perhaps he told a lie but he realized this did not honor the dear leader. Perhaps he wasted food or some other resource. Public confession in small groups was constantly required.

While acknowledging that you commited an error is sometimes appropriate and a sign of maturity here it was used to create a feeling that the individual under this system were never good enough. That they must constantly strive (but never achieve) to honor the leader of the communist nation. Constant pressure, constant review, and constant confession and promises to do better. The person leading the small groups would constantly change so no relationship could be built where advantage or slacking could take place.

Eventually the Noth Koreans complained that SSgt Jenkins was not having sex with his cook like he was supposed to. (They didn't get along) and then one of the Americans got the cook in his area pregenant. The cooks were supposed to be infertile and the North Koreans did not want the Americans creating racially impure children. So they found people from other races to marry them. In SSgt Jenkins' case this was a young Japanese woman the North Koreans had kidnapped. The Koreans wanted to have some control over every aspect of every citizen's lives.

To SSgt Jenkins credit he did not force himself on her like the Koreans told him too but over time by his kindness and their simularity of circumstance of being strangers in a strange land she fell in love with him and they married and had a couple of daughters (and a son that died not long after birth).

One of the things the North Koreans required SSgt Jenkins do was star in government produced films as the evil white man.

During a diplimatic meeting with Japan the North Koreans let slip that they had abducted Japanese citizens. Japan demanded their return and eventually SSgt Jenkins's wife was sent to Japan to "vist". However, she refused to return and finally the North Korean governement allowed SSgt Jenkins and their children to also go visit his wife in a neutral country. They gave him girft and money and tried to convince SSgt Jenkins to talk his wife into coming back and promising them a new house and car if he was successful. Instead, while deeply concerned about his punishment from the Army SSgt Jenkins agreed to go to Japan with his wife.

The Army assigned him a defense attorney (who was excellent accourding the book and the results he got) who worked with SSgt Jenkins as he turned himself in with the Army. He was court-martialed and sentenced to 30 days confinement. After 40 years trapped in North Korea this was probably a reasonable sentence.

SSgt Jenkins settled with his family in Japan but was able to visit his family in America and reunite with siblings and his mother.… (more)

This was a quick and fascinating read. Jenkins condemns himself for deserting, and acknowledges how serious a crime it was to abandon in the field the men he led one cold night in 1965 when he walked over the South Korean border into North Korea. He argues, however, that he has served a 40 year prison sentence, and when you read this account there can be little doubt of that. It is mind boggling for us (and it is for him too) to contemplate the naivete that led him to imagine that he could escape his troubles in the US military by defecting to North Korea, but there you have it.

The details of life inside North Korea, privation, self-criticism sessions, boredom, and utterly controlled lives, told from the perspective of an ordinary American soldier, make this well worth reading. Remarkably, however, Jenkins found (or, was assigned) a wife in the person of a kidnapped Japanese woman. The story of how they came to love each other, and finally made it out, together with their two daughters, who were on a path to become spies for the North Korean government, is gripping and brought a tear to my eye. On his return he was convicted by the U.S. military, but negotiated and received a nominal sentence, and is living out the remainder of his life in his wife's home town in Japan. This is a great portrait of life in North Korea over the last 40 years from a unique perspective.… (more)