ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Decades before he was designated to receive the nation’s highest civilian honor, Ernest Lyons was part of a historic group of eight men who fundamentally changed the landscape of law enforcement in the American South.
Lyons will be honored posthumously with the Congressional Gold Medal during a Montford Point Marine Association event next weekend in College Park.
The medal recognizes Lyons’ dual legacy as a trailblazing Montford Point Marine and as one of the first eight Black police officers hired by the Atlanta police department in 1948…