America's North Shore Journal

DoD

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

1st Lt. James N. Lyons, 28, of Rochester, N.Y., died on Sept. 27 in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries suffered when his mounted patrol came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire during combat operations. Lyons was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

Democrat & Chronicle

He knew full well he would likely see combat, but that too fit his personality.

“I recall one of those early conversations, and he said ‘I know I could get killed, but I accept the risk because I think I’m doing the right thing for my country,’” Robert Lyons said.

A patriot who believed that Iraq is a central front in the war on terror, Lt. Lyons told his family that the military’s role there was an important one. He often talked of how lives of Iraqi people had improved after the U.S. invasion and regime change. He noted that most of the people he talked to approved of the U.S. soldiers’ presence in the country.

Lt. Lyons had survived two roadside bombings, one just a few days before he was shot. With the same bravado that characterized his aggressive play on the athletic field, he proudly told his girlfriend earlier this week he was on his third tank.

He returned home in August for two weeks’ leave and displayed his pictures from Iraq. Among them was an image of him and an Iraqi man to whom Lt. Lyons had worked hard to return an heirloom gun that had been seized earlier by the Army. “He wanted to make friends with the Iraqis,” Marcia Lyons said. “He liked to help people.”

Global Security

As of January 14th, 2006, 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, which included 1st Battalion 12th Infantry Regiment, took control of Forward Operating Base Prosperity, located in Baghdad, from 4th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division. Their mission included training Iraqi Security Forces and maintaining security within the central and southern regions of the Iraqi capital.

1-12 Infantry Battalion maintains balanced readiness to, on order, deploy, fight and win in any theater of operation while supporting the 4th Brigade Combat Team training to increase lethality, survivability, operational tempo, sustainability, and versatility.

R News

A local family is mourning the death of its son, who was killed in Iraq.

Robert and Marcia Lyons of Brighton were notified Wednesday that their son James was killed by small arms fire in south Baghdad.

The 28-year-old was a First Lieutenant and a Tank Platoon Leader in the 4th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army.

James served in the military for almost three years. He spent the last 10 months in south Baghdad, Iraq.

“He fulfilled a dream to be a soldier. It was always in the back of his mind. He debated about it when he graduated from Syracuse University in bio-chemistry, whether to have a career. And he chose the army and to serve his country, “said Lyons’ mom, Marcia.

Lyons died wednesday by sniper fire. Just three days before that he was nearly killed by a roadside bomb. Still, his parents said, he wanted to fight to make the world a better place.

“James is always going to be our hero. And we miss him terribly and will forever, but he did what he wanted to do. And as most of these young men are over there, I think all of these young men are our heroes, ” cried Lyons’ dad, Robert.