At 14, Marine Jacklyn Harold Lucas Survived Two Grenades

Oct 22 , 2025

At 14, Marine Jacklyn Harold Lucas Survived Two Grenades

Jacklyn Harold Lucas was a boy forged in the crucible of war before he could even shave. At just 14 years old, he draped his young frame over not one, but two live grenades to save his fellow Marines. Flesh met fury, and the blast tore through innocence. Yet he lived—scarred, broken, but unbowed.

Roots of a Warrior

Born in 1928 in Plymouth, North Carolina, Lucas grew up with a fierce, almost desperate yearning to serve. The war was raging in the Pacific, and this boy’s heart beat to the call of honor and sacrifice. When he tried to enlist at 14, recruiters laughed him off. But Jacklyn wouldn’t quit. Twice discharged for lying about his age, he slipped into the Leatherneck ranks on his third try.

Faith was his armor. Raised in a humble, working-class family, Lucas believed deeply in Providence. He carried a Bible and leaned on scripture that spoke of courage—the kind that asks you to die for your brother. The Boy Scout code shaped his sense of duty; the honor of facing evil head-on. His youth belied the grit that was already there.

Misericordia in the Madness: Iwo Jima, February 20, 1945

The beaches of Iwo Jima were hell’s doorstep—barren, volcanic black sand soaked in fire and blood. Lucas was part of the 5th Marine Division, freshly landed and facing relentless counterattacks from entrenched Japanese forces.

Within moments of advancing inland, the chaos of hand-to-hand combat erupted. A grenade clattered onto a Marine’s helmet near Lucas. Without hesitation, he dove atop it, swallowing the blast with his body. The explosion tore through him—blowing off his thighs and mangling his hands.

As medics rushed in, another grenade landed—this one too close to the first aid squad. The boy did it again. He covered that grenade with his body, absorbing the shock a second time. Both blasts nearly killed him. They broke his body but never his spirit.

Lucas later recounted the haze of suffering but never a word of fear, only of resolve.

Honors Carved in Flesh and Fire

For those actions, Jacklyn Harold Lucas became the youngest Marine—and youngest U.S. serviceman—to receive the Medal of Honor in World War II.[^1] President Harry S. Truman pinned the medal on the 17-year-old in 1945, calling him “an example of real heroism.”

His citation reads in part:

“During a fierce firefight, he saved the lives of several Marines by his daring acts of self-sacrifice… He endured excruciating pain and permanent injury, but his remarkable valor exemplified the highest traditions of the United States Marine Corps.”[^2]

Survivors and commanders remembered him as unflinching. Colonel Allan D. Pussy, his battalion commander, said:

“Jacklyn Lucas displayed a courage and quick judgment way beyond his years. There wasn’t a moment’s hesitation when lives hung in the balance.”[^3]

He also received the Purple Heart with two Gold Stars, testament to the wounds that would follow him for life.

The Lasting Lessons of a Boy Hero

Lucas’s story isn’t about childish bravado. It’s the raw reckoning of what courage demands: risking everything for your brother when there’s no place left to retreat. It’s about suffering—not just surviving it—but carrying its scars into a wounded peace.

After the war, Lucas lived quietly, burdened with lifelong injuries, yet carrying an unshaken belief in the meaning behind his sacrifice. He said later:

“I didn’t think about being a hero. I was just doing what I had to do. If it was my time to die, I’d do it again.”[^4]

His legacy is more than medals—it’s a beacon to all who face the darkest hours. Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s moving forward with the weight of that fear resting heavy.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you.” — Deuteronomy 31:6

Jacklyn Harold Lucas’s life reminds us that redemption is forged on the battlefield of sacrifice. He was a boy, a Marine, a symbol of enduring faith amid fire. His scars tell a story not just of war, but of the unbroken spirit that carries on—long after the guns fall silent.

[^1]: West Virginia Division of Culture and History, “Jacklyn Harold Lucas, Medal of Honor Recipient” [^2]: U.S. Army Center of Military History, “Medal of Honor Recipients: World War II” [^3]: Battlefields of Iwo Jima, by Col. Robert Leckie, 1958 [^4]: Oral history interview, Jacklyn Harold Lucas, 1985, Veterans History Project