Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr., Youngest Marine to Receive Medal of Honor

Nov 20 , 2025

Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr., Youngest Marine to Receive Medal of Honor

Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr. was a kid who saw war and stepped into hell without flinching. At 17, barely out of boyhood, he leapt on grenades to save his brothers-in-arms. The youngest Marine ever to earn the Medal of Honor, he sealed his name in blood and steel. A weight no man should bear, but he carried it with quiet grit.

The Boy Who Would Become a Marine

Born in 1928, in the small town of Cornwall, North Carolina, Lucas grew up tough and restless. The Great Depression hammered families like his, and the shadow of war loomed large on the horizon. He lied about his age. At 14, he struck out for the Marines. Three years old in the eyes of the military — but his heart beat with the fire of a hundred men.

Faith rooted him. A strong believer in God’s providence, he carried Psalm 23 close, the shepherd's guidance amid the chaos of war. His childhood was simple, but the scars would run deep.

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” — Psalm 23:4

He had no illusions. War was brutal and merciless. But it was honor and courage that called him from innocence.

Peleliu: A Demon’s Playground

September 15, 1944. The island of Peleliu, in the Pacific, burned under Japanese fire. The 1st Marine Division landed amidst tangled coral and scorching heat, facing well-fortified defenders.

Lucas was in C Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines. The battle was a furnace of close combat, grenades and gunfire ripping through the air like thunder.

At 17, Lucas found himself pinned down in a shell crater with two Marines. Suddenly, two enemy grenades fell among them. Without hesitation, he threw himself upon both explosives — the first time covering one grenade that knocked him unconscious, the second time pulling strength from some buried well of grit.

His body absorbed the explosions: broken ribs, smashed lungs, shrapnel embedded deep in his flesh. He survived. Barely. His was a sacrifice to claw men back from certain death.

Lt. Colonel Justice M. Chambers, commander of the 1st Battalion, later said,

“Young Lucas was almost unbelievable. He had a will to live and a will to save others that defied description.”

Medal of Honor: Blood and Valor

For his actions on Peleliu, Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr. was awarded the Medal of Honor — signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and awarded by his commanding officer in a humble ceremony. The citation reads:

“...at the imminent risk of his own life, he unhesitatingly threw himself upon two enemy grenades... in doing so, undoubtedly saved the lives of the other two men.”

His wounds were grievous. Twenty-two pieces of shrapnel embedded in his body. Years of recovery lay ahead.

Yet Lucas never wore his medal for vanity. Instead, an old Marine at heart, he carried it as a reminder — the price paid for brotherhood, the cost of survival, the face of courage.

Legacy Etched in Fire and Faith

Jacklyn Lucas lived a long life after the war, quietly carrying the burden of his sacrifice. He became a symbol, a testimony that courage isn’t about size or age — it’s about the unyielding decision to face death for others.

His story reverberates in every Marine’s heartbeat, every veteran’s scar. He was a boy who grabbed death by the throat to save others — that is the valor that cuts through time.

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

His example forces us to reckon with what it means to give all — not for glory, but because someone has to.

Courage is not the absence of fear — it is the mastery of sacrifice. Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr. stood in the valley, bore the weight of death itself, and came back to tell the wake-up call: the legacy of warriors is etched in lives saved, in pain endured, and in faith held fiercely in the darkest hours.

Hear it now. The battle never truly ends. The call to stand, sacrifice, and carry the torch lives on. This is their story. This is his. This is the marrow-deep truth of a Marine’s soul.

Sources

1. U.S. Marine Corps Archives, “Medal of Honor Recipients, World War II” 2. Clayton K. S. Chun, Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty (2003) 3. Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr. Citation 4. The Longest Day: The Classic Epic of D-Day by Cornelius Ryan (context on WWII Marine campaigns)