Lyle Pearson was born in Montevideo, Minnesota on February 5, 1921. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corp and graduated as a pilot of a B-17. He was assigned to the 15th Air Force and was shot down over Austria on his 50th combat mission. He was a P.O.W in Stalag Luft 1 until liberated by Russian troops in May of 1945. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with Clusters, and the Purple Heart. He was employed with the Nicollet County Court System until he retired as Director of Court Services in 1983. During this time he was chosen as the Minnesota Corrections Man of the Year in 1969.
From September 1975 to August 1976 he served as National Commander of the Disabled American Veterans. In 1975 he was one of six citizens to be a guest of the Soviet Union at an International Commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the end of WWII.
Lyle, along with his wife Katherine, has been honored by the State of Minnesota and the DAV National organization for working as volunteers for 54 years at the St. Peter Minnesota State Hospital. On the National level he served 4 years as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Veterans Administrator on Prisoner of War benefits. For several years to date he has served on a National Committee of the Disabled American Veterans to annually choose the outstanding Man, Woman and Youth volunteers at VA Medical Centers across the nation. He continues to be active at all levels in veterans affairs. He also appears before local school classes to speak about WWII and life in a POW camp.