17-Year-Old Jacklyn Lucas Saved Fellow Marines at Iwo Jima

Jan 05 , 2026

17-Year-Old Jacklyn Lucas Saved Fellow Marines at Iwo Jima

Pain seared through his body. Two grenades in his hands. No hesitation. No time for fear. Only the grim choice—save those brothers beside him or die alone. Jacklyn Harold Lucas threw himself on those explosions, burying the fury of war beneath his flesh.

The Boy Who Became a Marine

Jacklyn Harold Lucas was no ordinary Marine. Born on January 14, 1928, in Plymouth, West Virginia, he carried a restless fire from early on. At just 14, he lied about his age and enlisted—eager beyond reason to join the fight in World War II. The Corps didn’t take him at first; too young, too green. But Lucas was relentless. He found a way. Wanting so badly to serve, to belong to something greater than himself, wrestling with a youthful hunger and a fierce love for country.

Faith wasn’t spoken about often in his early years, but his actions spoke of a personal moral code forged in hardship—a belief in protecting others at any cost. He lived by the unshakable code of honor Marines are built on: leave no man behind.

Iwo Jima: The Inferno and the Decision

February 19, 1945. Iwo Jima. Hell on Earth. The volcanic island drenched in fire and blood. Lucas was just 17. His unit, the 5th Marine Division, stormed the Japanese defenses under relentless artillery and mortar fire.

Amidst chaos, a pair of live grenades landed near two fellow Marines. Time slowed for Lucas. Without waiting, he dove on those grenades like a man possessed — arms extended to cover the blasts. The explosions tore through him. Both legs severely wounded, shrapnel embedded deep. Yet, miraculously, he survived.

His actions saved the lives of at least two Marines.

The Medal of Honor: Words Worth Their Weight in Valor

Lucas received the Medal of Honor on June 28, 1945—the youngest Marine ever to earn the nation’s highest military decoration.

“He unhesitatingly exposed himself to almost certain death to save the lives of others,” his citation reads[1].

Marine Corps Commandant General Alexander Vandegrift praised his courage, calling Lucas’ deed a selfless act that exemplified the highest traditions of the Corps.

“I don’t deserve this,” Lucas said simply decades later, “but if it helps someone, maybe it’s worth it.”

He earned two Purple Hearts alongside the Medal of Honor. Even after wartime, his story challenged the wider world’s understanding of youthful courage in a brutal conflict.

Beyond the Medals: Legacy Etched in Flesh and Spirit

Jacklyn Lucas carried scars—both visible and buried deep—throughout his life. He wrestled with pain, loss, and the heavy mantle of survival. Yet, he remained a humble symbol of sacrifice.

His life teaches this: true courage isn’t born from absence of fear—it's born from the choice to stand in spite of it.

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13

Lucas’ decision to shield his comrades wasn’t a Hollywood hero moment. It was raw. It was human. It was faith—a faith in brotherhood, in honor, and in something beyond himself that moved him to the edges of death and back again.

The war claimed many, but men like Jacklyn Lucas remind us why some survive—not by chance, but by choice. His body took the blast, but his spirit refused to fall. A Marine shaped by sacrifice, a boy transformed into legend.

Today, his story demands we never forget the cost of freedom or the depth of devotion it takes to secure it.

For every veteran and civilian alike, Lucas stands as a testimony: Courage is never too young. Sacrifice is never small. And redemption lives in every scar.

Sources

1. U.S. Marine Corps History Division, Medal of Honor citation: Jacklyn H. Lucas 2. Warner, Denis, The Marines at War: Iwo Jima (Naval Institute Press, 1995) 3. Ellis, John. Iwo Jima: World War II's Hell and Heroes (Smithsonian Books, 2009)