Richmond mother rallies support for troops abroad

Marva Lyons didn't plan to start an organization to write supportive letters to military troops in the world's hot spots, but when the need arose she was ready. Almost.

"It all came about in January of 2004, when our son came home and said he was enlisting in the Marines," said Lyons, a Richmond native. "Needless to say, it was something we weren't expecting. It caught us off guard."

But as she thought about it she noticed a "commitment and maturity" she hadn't previously seen in her son.

"It wasn't my dream," she said. "But it's his dream. And as parents we have to embrace our children when they try to follow their dream."

Having put in 13 years with the Contra Costa County Head Start program specializing in early childhood education, Lyons knows the importance of being supportive. And she knows the need extends beyond just her son.

That's why she started Their Angels, an organization committed to sending messages of caring and support to the men and women serving in the nation's military.

James Lyons, the younger of Mike and Marva Lyons' two sons, graduated early from De Anza High School in 2001. When he came home that day in 2004, he was in his second year at Diablo Valley College and his parents were looking forward to his next step toward his future.

That's when he called a family meeting and made his announcement.

Marva Lyons isn't a newcomer to military life, as her husband served in the Air Force in the early 1970s. But she hadn't expected to relive the experience some 30 years later.

"In the beginning I kind of struggled a little" with the thought of her son in the military, Lyons admitted.

Having accepted his decision, she has now dedicated herself to giving him her full support.

"When James enlisted in the Marines, they essentially drafted our whole family," she said, including her husband, Mike, who works for Chevron, and their older son Ryan, 27.

And she realizes there are others in her shoes.

"I know there has to be other people here in Richmond and West County that have loved ones in the military besides myself," she said. "I couldn't find anything locally doing anything for the troops."

Since she started her effort in November, volunteers have written about 2,100 cards and letters.

The correspondence is put into "C-Ration" (C for civilian) packages of items that soldiers might need or want, but that aren't readily available overseas. The packages have been put together by a partner volunteer group, Operation Interdependence of Morgan Hill, but next month Their Angels plans to start assembling its own care packages at monthly letter-writing gatherings.

Lyons realizes the nation's military presence in Iraq is hardly universally embraced in the Bay Area. But she stresses that her organization is partisan only in showing support for sons and daughters who have put their lives on the line to serve their country.

"When I talk to people about Their Angels, I tell them there isn't a political side," she said. "We're not for the war or against the war, but our troops are there and this is one small thing we can do to touch their lives and show them we care."

Publicity of Their Angels to date has been strictly word-of-mouth, with about 10 people writing letters regularly and about 50 in three states on the group's e-mail list. A fifth-grade class at Desert Trails Elementary School in the Mojave Desert contributed a large packet of letters.

Marva Lyons, a graduate of Kennedy High School and Cal State Hayward, is using her contacts in the education field to enlist participation of individuals, PTAs and school classes, and she is also looking into grants and sponsorships.

She is on the board of Marine Parents United, a national organization, and she and her husband attended its conference last month in Kansas City, Mo., where "we got to network and find out how we can support each other."

Hilltop Church of Christ, which the Lyons family attends, has donated space for monthly gatherings that will start next month to write letters and assemble care packages from home.

"I'm hoping for a good turnout at our kickoff," she said. "You can't have too many people."

James Lyons, now a lance corporal, completed boot camp in San Diego in June 2004 and two weeks ago left for his current assignment in North Carolina.

"I know his chances of going (into conflict) are as good as the next person's," Lyons said. "I couldn't imagine him being somewhere and having mail call and he doesn't get any mail. I want him to know that people love him and support him."

Reach Chris Treadway at ctreadway@cctimes.com or 510-262-2784.