Hal “Babe” Lyons
Age: 86
Hometown: Colfax, Wash.
Residence: La Quinta
Military branch: U.S. Army Air Corps; 93rd Bomb Group
Years served: 1942 - 1946
Rank: Flight officer
Family: Wife Bev
About this series
Staff writer Denise Goolsby will profile desert veterans from World War II from Wednesday to Sunday through the end of 2010 — the 65th anniversary of the end of the war. Contact her at (760) 778-4587 or via e-mail at denise.goolsby@thedesertsun.com
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World War II bomber pilot Hal “Babe” Lyons became fascinated with flying as a 6-year-old in 1929.
A pilot who built his own airplane used to fly near where Lyons and his family lived in Colfax, Wash.
“I'd wave at him and he'd wiggle his wings at me,” Lyons said. “I could see his goggles and his scarf and his whole face and I thought, ‘Gee, it would be nice to fly.'”
After graduating in 1941, Lyons went to Benson Polytechnic in Portland, Ore., for a six-week course in aircraft repair.
Soon after, he landed a job at Sacramento Air Depot, repairing the B-25 Mitchell and British Hudson bombers.
In 1942, when he learned all the boys in his graduating class planned to enlist in the service, Lyons joined them.
Two weeks before his squadron was scheduled to ship off to Africa to repair B-25 bombers, Lyons went to a Saturday night dance, and later asked a girl out for Chinese food. By the time they finished, the bus to McClellan Field, where Lyons was stationed, had stopped running for the night.
A soldier stopped and asked if he wanted a ride to the field. Lyons said yes, napped on the way and when they pulled up to the base, it was the wrong one.
The sign said Mather Field, where fighter pilots trained.
Since there was no transportation to McClellan Field until Monday, he slept in the visitor's barracks.
The next morning, he found out a pilot test was being given at 10 a.m.
He fudged on his application — he didn't have the two years of college required — and took the grueling, four-hour test.
He was notified of his acceptance into the pilot program and reported to the University of Nevada for cadet training.
During training, he received word that his former squadron's ship had been sunk on its way to Africa by a German sub. All were lost.
It was one of many times his guardian angel stepped in to take care of him, Lyons said.
During his final pilot training assignment at La Junta, Colo., where he flew the B-25 Mitchell bomber, he had another near miss.
One day, he tried practicing the short-field take-offs Gen. James Doolittle was requiring of his bomber group.
Lyons marked off 500 feet, parked his B-25 on the marker, set the brakes and slowly pushed both throttles forward for the maximum RPMs.
He said the bomber vibrated like it was coming to pieces. When he released the brakes, the force broke the bolts that held his seat.
“I slid back out of reach of the controls and the B-25 went out of control in circles,” he said.
He was finally able to take back control of the plane.
“I was lucky that there was no damage and I went on to graduate and get my wings.”
After piloting B-17 and B-25 bombers, Lyons was assigned to a secret training mission, flying the new B-29 Superfortress out of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson.
Lyons finally found out the mission was to bomb Japan.
“Just before we were to take off (from Saipan) on the final leg to Japan, the atomic bomb was dropped and the war was over,” Lyons said.
