Texas appears as a biographical setting in James Douglas Latham’s history: he was born there, and later met George Ronald York at the Fort Hood stockade. These two points link his origins to the military imprisonment that brought the future partners together.

Birthplace and Background

James Douglas Latham was born in Texas to a large, impoverished family. After his parents separated, the children were left to fend for themselves and scattered. At seventeen, Latham enlisted in the Army, seeking refuge from that unsettled home life.

Fort Hood and Its Significance

Two years after enlisting, Latham was imprisoned in the stockade at Fort Hood, Texas, after being found guilty of an AWOL offense. George Ronald York was also under sentence for going AWOL, and the two met there. Their meeting at the Texas stockade established the connection between men whose backgrounds were sharply different but who shared a bleak view of the world.