On August 22, 2007, a US Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter lifted off into the darkness of northern Iraq. Its mission was routine by the standards of the war, ferrying reconnaissance scouts back from a completed operation near Kirkuk. Within minutes, the routine turned tragic.

The helicopter, call sign “Jenna,” suffered a mechanical failure and crashed, killing all 14 soldiers aboard. It was one of the deadliest single aviation losses for US forces in Iraq.

The Iraq War and the Black Hawk’s Burden

By 2007, the Iraq War had dragged into its fifth year. Insurgency attacks were frequent, coalition casualties mounted, and American forces leaned heavily on aviation. Helicopters became the lifeline of the battlefield—moving troops, conducting reconnaissance, evacuating the wounded. Yet they

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