William Lyon (general)
William Lyon (March 9, 1923 – May 22, 2020) was a major general of the United States Air Force who served as Commander of the United States Air Force Reserve Command, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington D.C., and commander, Headquarters Air Force Reserve, a separate operating agency located at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. As chief of Air Force Reserve, Lyon served as the principal adviser on Reserve matters to the Air Force Chief of Staff. As commander of AFRES, he had full responsibility for the supervision of U.S. Air Force Reserve units around the world.
Biography
Lyon was born in
Lyon enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a reservist in 1943 and continued serving as a civilian flight instructor until he received a direct appointment as a flight officer in June 1944. During World War II, he was assigned to the 6th Ferrying Group and ferried aircraft to the Pacific and European theaters. In 1945 he was assigned to the North African Division of the Air Transport Command, returning to the United States in 1946. In 1947 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and participated in various Reserve assignments until his voluntary recall to active duty in 1951. He was then assigned to Headquarters Air Training Command as a staff pilot and was later transferred to the Military Air Transport Service, flying air evacuation and ferrying missions. In 1953 he volunteered for a tour of duty in Korea and flew 75 combat missions in the C-46 and C-47.
From 1954 to 1963, Lyon was assigned to various positions in the Reserve and served as a flight commander and operations officer. In 1963 he was named commander of the 929th Tactical Airlift Squadron,
Lyon was a command pilot. His military decorations and awards included the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Presidential Unit Citation, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Combat Readiness Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with hour glass device, and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation. He was promoted to the grade of major general on April 24, 1974, with date of rank May 24, 1972. He retired on April 16, 1979.
Other work
Lyon established the William Lyon Homes Inc. real estate company in 1954, as well as involved with the William Lyon Financial subsidiary and on the board of directors for the California bank.
In 1981, Lyon and fellow Orange County developer
Lyon founded the Lyon Air Museum near the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California.[5][6]
References
- ^ a b William H. Lyon, a biography of the general's son William H. Lyon.
- ^ USC remembers Gen. William Lyon, developer and university trustee, obituary from University of Southern California.
- ^ AirCal Gets More Financial Muscle but Faces Stiffer Competition, Too, Los Angeles Times, May 19, 1981
- ^ Granelli, James S. (July 2, 1987). "County's one and only lasted 21 years : AirCal vanishes - absorbed by American". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 21, 2021.,
- ^ "Gen. William Lyon's 90th a brassy affair". March 9, 2013. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
- ^ "About Lyon Air Museum and Event Venue". Lyonairmuseum.org. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Air Force