An ex-Chicago police officer and Vietnam veteran who wanted to make the world safer died in Afghanistan this week.
Tom Boyle, 62, of Barrington Hills was training police when he was killed Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune reports. Boyle's wife Pauline told the Tribune he wanted to make a difference in the world.
Boyle grew up on the Northwest side of Chicago and spent more than 30 years as a police officer before he retired in 2000. During that time he is remembered for bravely chasing down a man who murdered a Wheeling police officer in 1985.
Boyle joined the Marine Corps after high school, and after two tours in Vietnam he was awarded the Cross of Gallantry, according to the Tribune.
Pauline Boyle told reporters that when she last talked to her husband he had asked her to send him a doll or stuffed animal for a girl he'd met in Afghanistan who didn't have toys of her own.
Pauline said she received unofficial reports from friends of Boyle's in Iraq saying he was killed in a firefight by an insurgent. She hasn't yet received an official cause of death.
Boyle also has a son, Ryan, who is 32.
