[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 44 (Tuesday, April 21, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H2078-H2079]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              TRIBUTE TO LIEUTENANT COLONEL JAMES J. LYONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Hulshof) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HULSHOF. Madam Speaker, I have come to the floor of the United 
States House of Representatives tonight to talk about big news in a 
small town in Missouri's Ninth Congressional District. That town is 
Kirksville, Missouri. For those who do not know about Kirksville, it is 
the home of nationally-recognized Truman State University.
  Tonight my good friend, Jack Magruder, the President of Truman State, 
and some of his colleagues have tuned in for this tribute, because it 
is time, Madam Speaker, to pay tribute to a man of honor.
  Tonight I am here to salute a great countryman, Lieutenant Colonel 
James J. Lyons. His friends call him Jim. They also call him 
dependable. Lieutenant Colonel James Lyons has dedicated more than 29 
years to Army service.
  He entered the Army as a private in the Ohio Army National Guard in 
1968, completed basic training, completed Advanced Individual Training-
Infantry at Fort Jackson, South Carolina; and after a period of 
enlisted service with the Ohio Guard, he entered Officer Candidate 
School at Fort Hayes, Ohio. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in 
1970 and assigned to C Company, 113th Medical Battalion, where he 
served as ambulance platoon leader and training officer.
  Lt. Col. Lyons moved to Kirksville in 1972 and was assigned to the 
5503d U.S. Army Hospital in Columbia, Missouri. He served in a number 
of staff officer positions, including assistant personnel officer, food 
service officer and hospital company commander.
  In 1976, he was project officer for the First Army Reserve Medical 
Symposium. A year later, he led the quartering party which organized 
the 901st Medical Detachment which, Madam Speaker, was the first Army 
Reserve Medical Unit in northern Missouri. Subsequently, he served as 
that unit's training officer and executive officer.
  In 1988, Lt. Col. Lyons helped establish the 303d Field Hospital in 
Kirksville. He also served as that unit's executive officer and 
deployable medical systems project officer.
  Lt. Col. Lyons was selected to be the first commander for the newly 
formed

[[Page H2079]]

4207th U.S. Army Hospital in 1995, a position he has held until his 
military retirement.
  Lt. Col. Lyon's awards and decorations are many. They include the 
Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal with three Oak 
Leaf Clusters, the Humanitarian Service Medal for work with Cuban 
refugees, the National Defense Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, 
the Reserve Components Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, as 
well as the Armed Forces Reserve Medal and the Expert Rifle 
Marksmanship badge.
  But not only has Lt. Col. Lyons distinguished himself in the military 
arena. He has also challenged himself academically. Lyons holds a 
Bachelor's degree in psychology from Fordham University and a Master's 
and Ph.D. in psychology from Ohio State University. He has been a 
faculty member at Truman State since 1972 and has served as the head of 
the Division of Social Science since 1979.
  His friend, George Melloh, refers to him as the linchpin of Truman 
State University, giving Lyons much credit for putting Truman State's 
name on the map.
  Also of importance, Madam Speaker, is how Lt. Col. Lyons has 
maintained careers in both the military and academic fields while 
earning honors in both. Kathy Reick, the dean of admissions at Truman 
State, points out that it takes a very special talent and a very 
special person to work with faculty during the week and with military 
on the weekends. The same approach to management and administration 
certainly does not work with both groups.

                              {time}  1845

  Yet Lyon's colleagues from both the faculty and military praise him 
for his dedication, for his effectiveness, and for his good judgment.
  While Lt. Col. Lyons will retire from the military next month, he 
will continue to serve in the leadership of the social science 
department of Truman State University. We thank Lt. Col. Lyons for his 
service to his community, to his country, and we wish him the best of 
luck.

                          ____________________