Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr., Iwo Jima Medal of Honor Recipient

Jan 30 , 2026

Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr., Iwo Jima Medal of Honor Recipient

He was just a kid. Not yet nineteen. Two grenades landed in the foxhole. Most would have run. He dove on them and swallowed the blast. Blood soaked the ground, but Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr. saved lives that day—at Iwo Jima, February 20, 1945.

From North Carolina to the Front Lines

Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr. was born into a world fractured by war, August 14, 1928, in New York, but raised in Morehead City, North Carolina. A restless spirit, hell-bent on honor and purpose, he lied about his age to join the Marines in 1942—only 14 years old. Two years younger than the average recruit, but already carrying the weight of something greater: a fierce sense of duty burning in his chest.

Faith was a quiet backbone. Friends recalled a boy raised on the Bible, his character built on Proverbs and Psalms more than steel and fire. “A heart not hardened by hate, but toughened by belief,” a chaplain later described. He carried that with him into hell—believing in sacrifice, redemption, and salvation amid the chaos of war.

Baptized by Fire on Iwo Jima

February 19, 1945. The volcanic black sands of Iwo Jima spit death into the faces of the 5th Marine Division assault waves. Jack, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, landed ashore like thousands before him—raw, exposed, and swallowed by violence.

The next day, in the trenches of Hill 382, hell unleashed in a brutal rain of Japanese grenades and mortar shells. Lucas and three fellow Marines were trapped when two enemy grenades landed inside their foxhole. Without hesitation, he screamed a warning, dove atop the lethal devices, and pressed his body onto them.

He absorbed the explosions with his chest and arms. His clothes were shredded, bones broken, flesh torn. The blast threw him out of the crater, blood pouring, but the men survived.

Medals Won in Pain and Honor

Lucas’s wounds were grave; he faced spinal injuries and third-degree burns. But the warrior spirit endured. When President Harry S. Truman awarded him the Medal of Honor on October 5, 1945, it was not just for his gallantry. It was for a principle older than armies: saving your brothers at any cost.

The official Medal of Honor citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.

Jackly’s parents accepted the medal on behalf of their son, who remained hospitalized. The youngest Marine to ever receive the Medal of Honor, his story became immortalized alongside the greatest heroes of World War II.[^1]

General Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr., Commandant of the Marine Corps, called him “an example of courage and valor all Marines strive to achieve.” Fellow Marines remembered Jack as a modest soul, never boasting, always deflecting praise toward the men he saved.

Beyond the Medal—Legacy of Redemption

Jack Lucas lived to fight again—not in battle, but in life’s ongoing war against pain and memory. After surviving not one but two grenade blasts during WWII, his story didn’t fade into the haze of hero worship. Instead, it stands as a brutal testament to instinct, courage, and the redemptive power of sacrifice.

In later years, Lucas sought to build, not to break. He worked with veterans’ causes, reminding younger generations that true battlefield valor often transcends medals—it demands a willingness to bear scars others never see.

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

Jack’s life was a living sermon on that scripture. His sacrifice was carved into the earth of Iwo Jima, burned into the hearts of the men he saved, and etched into the soul of every Marine who hears his story.

Veterans today carry the legacy of Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr. Like him, they understand: courage is raw, costly, and sometimes born from the innocence of youth hardened by the fury of war.

The boy who swallowed grenades with bare hands didn’t just survive; he became a living symbol that even in the darkest carnage, there is purpose, there is sacrifice, and there is grace.

[^1]: Naval History and Heritage Command, Medal of Honor: Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr. Citation; U.S. Marine Corps Archives, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines Iwo Jima After Action Reports.