Nobody is Going to Fight for Us

Evansville native Thomas Boyd being escorted to his court marital.

While Randy and I have written two books and several articles together about Hoosiers in combat, there was one story I gladly wrestled away from him—and he gallantly allowed me. It was an intriguing tale with several twists concerning a Marine Corps atrocity in Vietnam involving an Evansville, Indiana, soldier— Thomas Boyd—and an Evansville trial lawyer—Howard Trockman—who journeyed from Indiana to Vietnam to defend him. Several interesting names pop up in the story as well, including the flamboyant founder of the International Baseball League, Walter Dilbeck, and the Marine Corps’ Ollie North. The article originally appeared in a military history special issue of the Journal for the Liberal Arts and Sciences.  

Site of the Son Thang massacre