One small act
There are times in ones life where you step up and do things, and you do it without asking questions. Today was one of those times. Sandy, my wife and I volunteered to be a part of this years Post Falls Festival parade. My wife and I volunteered July 8 to carry a banner of a fallen soldier from our area who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. The banners are sponsored by the Washington State Fallen Heroes Project (https://www.facebook.com/WAFallenHeroesProject).
Just walking along Seltice Way in the parade route was about as humbling as it can get. Hundreds of people saluting us and clapping as we made our way down the street. It was more than I could imagine. I had no idea what this day would lead to.
We were just doing something for those who lost their lives for our freedom. After all, it was the least we could do for these brave soldiers. This memory of today was beyond words. Yet it brought a tear to my wife Sandy’s eyes and a lump in my throat. How could it not?
When the parade was over, we left for home with a feeling we did something extraordinary for all those who died in combat. What a privilege it was to be able to honor, SPC Marc W. Grubham U.S. Army and Capt. David Lyon U.S. Air Force. Sandy, wanted to share those feelings so she posted some pictures on Facebook.
Here is where you find out just how small our big world can get.
Our story gets interesting. After returning home from the parade, I got a call from my brother Craig who lives in Colorado Springs and works at Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs. We were in total shock when we found out that my brother knew Capt. David Lyon and his wife, Dana Lyon, who was also in the Air Force.
Dana Lyon, David’s wife, worked for my brother at Peterson AFB in Colorado. We had no clue that my brother knew David. And neither did Sandy nor me. So here are how the threads of this story were sowed together about David Lyons.
This below is comments from my brother Craig Williams:
Tim… As I mentioned yesterday, I was so taken aback by the picture of Sandy holding a fallen soldier’s banner in your parade. It was of a young soldier from Sandpoint, Idaho. Upon seeing his face, it took me back immediately to December of 2013. You see, at that time, I had the pleasure of working with another true professional also named Lyon, but her name was Captain Dana Lyon. (David’s Wife)
While I had briefly met David before his deployment, I knew Dana much better. She was a friend and leader at the MILSATCOM Sustainment and a pleasure to know personally. Dana was head-over-heels in love with David, and I’m sure he knew that well.
I remember when we heard the tragic news, it was just awful. However, in the face of it, Dana was able to muster up the courage to somehow keep the focus and the strength necessary to bring her husband home. I recall seeing a picture of her on the plane carrying David’s casket. It was draped with a U.S. flag, and she lay sleeping next to it with her arm around the flag, the casket, and David.
David was buried at the U.S. Air Force Academy where he and Dana were both NCAA athletes. Eventually, Dana transferred to the Academy, where she returned to what she loved, athletics training and mentoring the next generation of athletes.
Please express my thanks to Sandy for honoring the fallen soldiers and, in particular, David, as he and Dana will always hold a special place in my heart.
— Craig
In Closing. This one small kindly gesture, the recognition of David and other local fallen heroes, truly impacted many people. This recognition and remembrance meant a lot to the family and friends of David and all the other fallen heroes.
Out of that parade came a story of one individual from Sandpoint who died for his country protecting our freedom. This story rippled through Post Falls, Colorado Springs and then back to Post Falls.
From not knowing David Lyon to now, I do believe things happen for a reason.
I do know one thing … Capt. David Lyons and all those who died for our country will never be forgotten. Not on my watch.
Capt. David Lyons Bio
Former Air Force thrower Capt. David (Lissy) Lyon was killed Dec. 27, 2013, while conducting combat operations near Kabul, Afghanistan.
Lyon, a 2008 Academy graduate, was a three-year letter winner for the Falcons' track and field team and a Mountain West champion in the shot put.
A member of the 21st Logistics Readiness Squadron at Peterson Air Force Base, Lyon was killed when a vehicle-born improvised explosive device was detonated near his convoy. He was one of 10 killed in the attack, along with two NATO military personnel and seven Afghan forces.
Serving a year-long deployment to Afghanistan, Lyon was performing a combat advisory mission with Afghan National Army Commandos and working with the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan. He was scheduled to return to Peterson AFB in February.
Known as David Lissy during his time with the Falcons' track and field program, the native of Sandpoint, served as a team captain during the 2007-08 season, while earning a conference title in the shot put at the 2008 Mountain West Indoor Championships. He is still ranked third on the Academy's all-time list in both the indoor and outdoor shot put, highlighted by a throw of 57 feet 11 inches during the 2008 indoor season.
A recipient of the track and field program's Laura Piper Ironman Award (named after a 1991 Academy graduate and former Air Force thrower who was killed in action during Operation Desert Shield in Iraq), Lyon was named to the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) All-American team, which recognized his excellence in strength training.
Lyon, who changed his last name after graduation with respect to his adopted parents, is survived by his wife, Dana Pounds-Lyon, a 2006 Academy graduate and two-time NCAA champion.
