Desert Sun WWII series includes Hal (Babe) Lyons

Colfax High School grad Hal (Babe) Lyons was included in a feature series of World War II veterans which is running in the Desert Sun at Palm Springs, Calif., through the end of the year.

Lyons, who scored the lone touchdown in the Colfax-St. John Codger Bowl game in 1988, now resides in La Quinta, Calif.

Lyons graduated from Colfax High School with the class of 1941 and enlisted in 1942 with other members of his class. He later trained to be a pilot and served in the 93rd Bomb Group of the Army Air Corps.

Lyons flew B-25 Mitchell bombers, B-17 Flying Fortresses and trained to fly the B-29 Superfortresses near the end of the war. He was training for bomb runs over Japan and was taking off at Saipan when he learned the war had ended after the atomic bomb was dropped, according to the account written by Denise Goolsby, Desert Sun reporter.

Lyons moved to La Quinta after living most of his adult life as a businessman and developer in Moses Lake. He now organizes an annual golf tournament and banquet to benefit a fund for WSU scholarships.