Lyle Andrew Erickson was born in Illinois to Andrew Bernhard and Helen Butler Erickson. He sometimes went by the nickname "Lief." He was a noted skier, graduated from East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, and had attended the University of Utah and affiliated with Sigma Chi fraternity.

He was a member of the United States Navy Reserve and called to active duty in San Francisco on September 5, 1942 (some records indicate the date as October 28, 1942). He received training at Corpus Christi, Texas, and in Florida, before going overseas March 17, 1944.

Ensign Erickson was a pilot of a Grumman Hellcat F6F and assigned to the Navy's Squadron 27 on an aircraft carrier. He is credited with five confirmed aircraft kills and the sinking of a small enemy escort vessel. Some reports indicate as many as nine aircraft downed.

He was operating off the aircraft carrier in the South Pacific when he and his aircraft were swept overboard during one of the typhoons of the 1944 season. He was able to get out of his plane and began swimming away from the carrier, but was lost in the heavy seas resulting from the typhoon.

He was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in August 1944 "for extraordinary achievement while in aerial flight in the South Pacific." He was posthumously awarded a Gold Star in lieu of a second DFC. He was also awarded the Air Medal and additional Navy-Marine Corp awards for his achievements.

He was a member of the Zion's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Salt Lake City, and was honored on October 29, 1944 with a memorial service. He was the only member of the congregation to be killed in action during World War II.

His remains were not recovered. His name also appears on a monument at Fort William McKinley in Manila, The Philippines.

He was survived by his parents, two brothers (a USMC Sgt./Major, and a First Officer in the Merchant Marines), and two sisters.

More info can be accessed for free at familysearch.org. Lyle's ID number there is GW31-D6D .