Jack Heber Lyon
Second Lieutenant Jack H. Lyon was a Marine Corps pilot with VMF-111
He was killed in a training accident near Samoa on 26 July 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number O-6998
Current Status
This individual has been recovered or is not recovered.
Pursuit Category
Based on circumstances of loss, this individual is considered permanently non-recoverable.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
November 19, 1917
at Cedar, IA
Parents
Glen Clifford Lyon (d. 1939)
Clara Virginia (Bales) Lyon
Education
Downer’s Grove High School (1936)
Albany College (Lewis and Clark) (1940)
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
September 17, 1940 (enlisted)
August 2, 1941 (officer)
Home Of Record
Kalispell, MT
Next Of Kin
Wife, Mrs. Doris J. Lyon
Military Specialty
Pilot
Primary Unit
VMF-111
Campaigns Served
—
Individual Decorations
—
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Second Lieutenant Jack Lyon was a Marine Corps fighter pilot who flew with VMF-111. His squadron was stationed in Samoa in 1942, serving as a defensive force while training for deployment to the combat zone.
On 26 July 1942, Lyon took off for a training flight in a Grumman Wildcat (F4F-3 #1851). The pilots squared off for a three-on-three practice dogfight, which quickly turned tragic. A squadronmate later recalled the incident:
The two elements had just completed a head-on mock firing pass and I was recovering to the left when I saw that [Lyon] had broken from the opposing formation and was spiraling nose-first toward the sea. I had no idea why Lyon was diving, but he looked to be in trouble, and I instinctively dived away after him. Jack never got out of the airplane; I saw no sign of life in the cockpit. The F4F plunged straight into the water and was never seen again.
I learned within a minute that Jack had swept ahead of and too close to his element leader and that the element leader's propeller had cut through Jack's F4F right behind the cockpit. Jack doubtless had zero control over his fighter in the wake of the collision, and he could very well have been too dazed or injured to react. Or perhaps his cockpit canopy had become stuck on its rails while Jack was trying to bail out.
Whatever the case, Jack Lyon died when his Wildcat dived into the water.
Lyon was killed at approximately 1030 hours on 26 July; he was the squadron’s first fatality.
Burial Information or Disposition
Remains lost at sea.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of wife, Mrs. Doris Jones Lyon.
Location Of Loss
Lyon crashed at an unspecified location at sea near Samoa.
