 13 WHAM -- Kyle Clark (Brighton, N.Y.) - Bob and Marcia Lyons of Brighton found out Wednesday that their only child, James, had been killed by sniper fire in Iraq.
Marcia Lyons said, "I opened the door and there were two army officers in full uniform and I knew that he was a casualty."
The Lyons knew their 28-year-old son faced danger everyday. He'd already previously escaped two roadside bombs and recently a lunchtime sniper attack.
Bob Lyons said, "All of a sudden there was a noise and he looked down and a bullet had come through the pop can sitting next to him on the tank."
James, 28, was a First Lieutenant and a Tank Platoon Leader in the 4th Infantry Division. He was a 1998 graduate of Vermont Academy and a 2003 graduate of Syracuse University. He served in the military for almost three years and spent the last 10 months in South Baghdad, Iraq.
His parents said James always insisted he believed in his mission and that he trusted his commander-in-chief and saw results on the ground in Iraq
Bob Lyons said, “There's lots of concern, but there's also a pride. He's one of the few that are both good enough and willing to go off and serve their country and we need those people to keep us safe."
His parents were equally insistent that their son know how proud they were of him.
"Always in my letters to him, I closed with ‘We are proud of you,’” Marcia said. "He was our hero. He will always be our hero."
Lyons was home on leave just a few weeks ago. His parents looked back on that visit and called it a blessing. The family went to a lacrosse game. James was always an athlete and played varsity lacrosse and football at Brighton High School.
Since March 2003, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have claimed the lives of 2,706 members of the U.S. military. Most of those deaths were from hostile action. |