Capt Lyle L. Gordon
Born: September 11, 1974 in Dallas, Texas
Died: January 26, 2005 in Korean Village, Iraq
Capt. Lyle Gordon of Midlothian, Texas graduated from Midlothian High School in 1993 and earned a bachelor’s in Animal Science from Texas A&M University in December 1999. While at A&M, Lyle played rugby for the school’s club team, not a surprising choice for a young man who loved to play rough. He also was in the Marine Reserve while in college. After graduation, he worked briefly as a manager at Sanderson Farms in Bryan. But a short while later, he decided to enter the Marines full time. Ever since Lyle was a kid growing, he had dreams of flying high and fast. As a thrill-seeking youngster, he must have watched the 1980s fighter pilot movie “Top Gun” hundreds of times. Most recently, he had visions of one day blending his loves of flying and animals by owning a horse ranch. There, his piloting skills would come in handy, as he could fly high above his sprawling dream ranch while getting a bird’s-eye view of his herd. He was always happy no matter what and could find something to laugh about in almost any situation. He had a direction and knew exactly what he wanted. He didn’t care if anyone followed him. He was going to do it. Lyle’s determination to become an Aggie started at an early age. When he was 13, after his family made a trip to A&M to watch a football game and see Bonfire burn, he told his mother that it was the school for him. Before going to Officer Candidates School, he made one last trip to the Bryan-College Station area to say goodbye to old college buddies. It was then that he met his wife-to-be, Kaci. The two corresponded through letters before getting married. After spending time in Japan and Korea, he went to Iraq in September. While in Iraq at Christmastime, he helped deliver more than 100 packages to soldiers. People in his hometown had gathered to make care packages, which then were sent to Lyle. He, in return, dispersed them to soldiers who lacked much correspondence from home. He was always getting some package from home, but he also knew there were a lot of boys over there that never heard from anyone. He just wanted to bring some joy to them. His time overseas was nearing an end and he was due to return home in March of 2005. He died in the crash of a CH-53E helicopter near Ar Rutbah, Iraq at age 30.
Marines
1st Battalion
3rd Marine Regiment
3rd Marine Division
III Marine Expeditionary Force
Marine Corps Base Hawaii
Burial is at Hannibal Cemetery in Hannibal, Texas
The Capt Lyle L. Gordon by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.