Arnold Eugene “Bill” Lyon was born in January 1919 in Greeley, Weld County, Colorado, to Wilber C. and Sarah McDowell Lyon. The 1920 census indicated he was the youngest of three brothers and also had a sister.

Lyon (service number 3720439) was serving aboard the battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48) on 7 December 1941 as a Gunner’s Mate 3c. According to Wikipedia, torpedo bombers “hit the ship with seven … torpedoes on her port side and two bombers hit her with … armor piercing shells.” One hundred and six men died in the attack. Although the ship sank on an even keel and suffered significant fire damage, she was repaired and returned to duty in September 1944.

Gunner’s Mate 3c Lyon was survived by his wife and infant daughter and his parents. His name in included on the Tablets of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen’s name and read his/her story.

Story by LeAnn Stelzer

Arnold Eugene Lyon