Sep 14 , 2025

Jacklyn H. Lucas, Youngest Marine's Medal of Honor at Iwo Jima

Four grenades. Four chances to die. And he chose to live—through others.

Jacklyn H. Lucas was 17 years old when hell rained down on Iwo Jima, but his heart was older than his years. A boy enlisted sneakily, a warrior forged by instinct and iron will. The youngest Marine to ever catch the Medal of Honor in the furnace of World War II. A name seared into the annals of sacrifice where the blood never dries.

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Background & Faith: A Boy from Sheldon's Shadow

Jacklyn Harold Lucas came from Sheldon's quiet streets in North Carolina, but peace wasn’t built into his blueprint. His father died when he was only six, but his mother taught him an unshakable belief: courage comes from something deeper than skin and bone.

Lucas ran away from school to join the Marines in 1942. He lied about his age. Seventeen years, zero days old officially. He carried a Bible with him—a worn copy passed down through faith, grounding him when chaos struck.

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” — Proverbs 29:18

His code was simple: protect your brothers by any means. Honor was not a word for him; it was a command.

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The Battle That Defined Him: Iwo Jima, February 20, 1945

The first day on Iwo Jima’s scorched sands is the day time stopped for Lucas. As Company C, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines clawed over the volcanic ash, enemy grenades came screaming.

Four grenades exploded near his position. Without hesitation—without thought—Lucas dove on the blasts, covering the deadly lumps with his body. Two grenades fired off beneath him; miraculously, neither detonated. Two others exploded, burying him in agony.

His body took the brunt. Shrapnel tore his face and legs. Burns licked his bloodied flesh. Yet, through it all, his mind locked onto survival—not his own, but his comrades'.

Despite wounds, Lucas crawled for cover, refusing evacuation until helping wounded Marines. His guts saved lives that day.

“He saved my life. No question,” later said one of his fellow Marines, George W. Geygan, who saw Lucas's fearless act up close.

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Recognition: Medal of Honor at Seventeen

Lucas’s Medal of Honor citation reads like the epic of a titan, not a teenager. President Harry S. Truman awarded it on October 5, 1945, in a crowded Oval Office.

“His intrepidity and self-sacrifice, at the risk of his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.” — Medal of Honor Citation

Jacklyn H. Lucas remains the youngest Marine—and the youngest Medal of Honor recipient of World War II. Two brigades of doctors worked over him. He survived 21 separate wounds, an almost impossible count.

He refused to let the scars define him. When asked later how he survived, Lucas replied simply:

“I didn’t think—I just did what Marines do: protect your buddy.”

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Legacy & Lessons: The Cost and The Call

Lucas’s story is raw truth about war: brutal, sacred, and redemptive. He survived a hell only few can imagine, not for glory but to protect others. His scars—both seen and hidden—tell the true price of valor.

His life afterward was a long road of healing and testimony. Lucas joined the reserves, served again in Korea and Vietnam, never seeking limelight. His legacy is more than medals; it’s an eternal call to courage, sacrifice, and faith under fire.

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

His battles didn’t stop at the battlefield’s edge. They echoed within, demanding purpose and peace in the aftermath of war.

Jacklyn H. Lucas isn’t just history. He’s a beacon—the kind that calls warriors and civilians alike to confront fear and meet it head-on with resolve and grace.

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The blood he shed was not in vain. It forged a life dedicated to redemption, service, and the sacred bond among warriors.

He reminds us all—in the darkest hours, when death whispers close—that true courage is choosing to stand for others, even when it means becoming their shield. That is a legacy worth every scar.

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Sources

1. United States Marine Corps History Division, Medal of Honor Citation: Jacklyn H. Lucas. 2. James H. Willbanks, Iwo Jima: Victory of Valor. (Naval Institute Press, 2004) 3. Stephen Ambrose, Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945 (Simon & Schuster, 1997)

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