John Lyle (pilot)

{{Infobox military person

| honorific_prefix = Flight Officer

| name = John Lyle

| honorific_suffix =

| native_name =

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| image = File:Photo of John Lyle Tuskegee Airman.png

| image_size = 180px

| alt =

| caption = John Lyle 1944

| birth_date ={{birth date|1920|11|18}}

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2019|1|5|1920|11|18}}

| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois

| death_place = Chicago, Illinois

| placeofburial =

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| nickname =

| birth_name = John Lyle

| allegiance =

| branch = United States Army Air Force

| serviceyears = 1944-1945

| rank = Flight Officer

| servicenumber =

| unit = 100th Fighter Squadron 332d Fighter Group

| commands =

| battles =

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| awards = {{Plainlist |

Congressional Gold Medal 2007

}}

| spouse = Eunice (4th wife)

| relations = 3 step children

| laterwork =

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| website =

}}

Flight Officer John Lyle (1920 – 2019) was an American World War II pilot and a member of the famed group of World War II-era African-Americans known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Dickson flew 26 combat missions during WWII.{{cite web |title=Tuskegee Airman John 'Jack' Lyle dead at 98 |url=https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-military/2019/01/08/tuskegee-airman-john-jack-lyle-dead-at-98/ |website=airforcetimes.com |date=January 8, 2019 |publisher=Associated Press |access-date=9 December 2019}} He had a lifelong love of sailing and over the course of his life he owned seven different boats. He was nicknamed Captain Jack for his love of sailing.{{cite news |last1=Bowean |first1=Lolly |title='Captain Jack' Lyle, South Side native and one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen dies at 98 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-john-lyle-obit-20190107-story.html |access-date=9 December 2019 |publisher=Chicago Tribune |date=7 January 2019}}

Military service

Lyle graduated from Englewood High School on Chicago's Southside and in 1943 joined the military. He did not want to be a foot soldier so he pursued flying. After graduating from the Tuskegee Institute as a Flight Officer he was assigned to the European theatre. He flew 26 combat missions over Italy, Austria and Germany. Lyle, named his plane “Natalie” after his first wife. During the war he shot down a German Messerschmitt.{{cite news |title=John Lyle, 98, Tuskegee Airman |url=https://www.phillytrib.com/obituaries/john-lyle-tuskegee-airman/article_f7f7c0e3-d052-5748-a430-b49c6cd72a8c.html |access-date=9 December 2019 |publisher=The Philadelphia Tribune |date=7 January 2019}}

{{quote box

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|width=75%

|quote=I was shot at several times as part of a formation. I watched bombers being torn apart, but they were performing the mission they signed up to do,” Mr. Lyle told Jet. “And when I had to shoot the guy who was shooting at the planes I was protecting, I did not feel bad because that was my assignment.{{cite news |last1=O'Donnell |first1=Maureen |title=John 'Jack' Lyle, one of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen, dies at 98 |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/1/7/18322441/john-jack-lyle-one-of-the-legendary-tuskegee-airmen-dies-at-98 |access-date=9 December 2019 |publisher=The Chicago Sun Times |date=7 January 2019}}

|source=–John Lyle

}}

=Awards=

File:Tuskegee P-51.jpg

Congressional Gold Medal 2007

Education

Tuskegee Institute 1944{{cite web |title=Tuskegee Airmen Pilot Listing |url=https://www.tuskegee.edu/support-tu/tuskegee-airmen/tuskegee-airmen-pilot-listing |website=tuskegee.edu |publisher=Tuskegee University |access-date=9 December 2019}}

Personal life

Lyle was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. He graduated from Englewood High School and in 1943 joined the military. He did not want to be a foot soldier so he pursued flying. Lyle married Eunice and was a stepfather to her 3 children. After the war, he became a police officer with the Chicago Park District and also started a tree-trimming company. He had prostate cancer at the end of his life. His wife Eunice said that his dying wish was to sit and watch the waves of Lake Michigan at Jackson Park Harbor Yacht Club. Lyle was married four times and Eunice was his fourth wife.

References

=Notes=

External links

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrs5-leVQ_w&feature=emb_title Video of John Lyle]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20131204121846/http://www.tuskegee.edu/about_us/legacy_of_fame/tuskegee_airmen.aspx Tuskegee Airmen] at Tuskegee University
[http://library.ucr.edu/?view=tuskegee/index.html Tuskegee Airmen Archives] at the University of California, Riverside Libraries.
[http://tuskegeeairmen.org/ Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.]
[http://www.nps.gov/tuai/index.htm Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site] (U.S. National Park Service)
[http://www.tuskegeeairmennationalmuseum.org/ Tuskegee Airmen National Museum]
Fly (2009 play about the 332d Fighter Group)
Executive Order 9981
List of African American Medal of Honor recipients
Military history of African Americans