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Army Sgt. John A. Lyons
Died October 26, 2011 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom
26, of Seaside Park, N.J.; assigned to 8th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas; died Oct. 26 in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds caused by enemy small-arms fire.
Police, motorcycle riders to escort body of soldier back to N.J.
By Stephanie Loder
Asbury (N.J.) Park Press
State Police and American Legion motorcycle riders will escort the body of fallen Army Sgt. John A. Lyons of Seaside Park from Dover Air Force Base, Del., back to New Jersey on Thursday.
A viewing is planned for Saturday for Lyons, who died in the line of duty in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan on Oct. 26. He was 26.
Ocean County Legion Commander Ray Miller said American Legion Riders from posts 129 and 348 will provide a motorcycle escort, along with State Police.
He said the escort is expected to begin at the Delaware Memorial Bridge on Thursday morning, take the New Jersey Turnpike to Interstate 195, then take the exit for Route 537. He said the escort will end at the the Timothy E. Ryan Home for Funerals, 145 St. Catherine Blvd. in Toms River.
Miller said the exact times for the escort have not been scheduled.
Miller said he will also present the Lyons family with an honorary membership with the American Legion.
At the funeral home, family will receive friends from 1 to 3 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturday.
Lyons, a 2003 graduate of Central Regional High School in Berkeley, was assigned to the 8th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade at Fort Hood, Texas.
His body was returned to Dover Air Force Base on Oct. 29, according to an Air Force spokesman.
Lyons was the recipient of the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, NATO Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, the Overseas, Army Service and National Defense Ribbons and the Global War on Terrorism, for which he received Service and Expeditionary Medals. Lyons also led the winning team of the annual Bataan Death March Event in New Mexico.
Lyons was born in Peterborough, N.H., and resided in Seaside Park. He attended Rutgers University and graduated with degrees in political science and Latin in 2008.
Surviving are his parents, Susan Smiley of Seaside Park and Ron Lyons of New Hampshire; his brother, Adam and his wife Meredith Lyons of New Hampshire; his sister, Lena Lyons of Virginia; his maternal grandmother, Gloria Smiley of New Jersey; his fiance, Kristiani Endreson of Florida; his aunt Beth and her husband Tony Merle of New Jersey; his uncle John Smiley of Hawaii; and two nephews, Gavin and Aiden Lyons.