Jacklyn Harold Lucas, youngest Marine to earn Medal of Honor

Oct 05 , 2025

Jacklyn Harold Lucas, youngest Marine to earn Medal of Honor

Jacklyn Harold Lucas was thirteen, barely a boy, when he stood in the maw of hell and took explosions meant for his brothers. Blood soaked him, guts splattered, but he lived. Not because he was lucky, but because courage doesn’t wait on age.

The Boy Who Would Be Marine

Jacklyn was born February 14, 1928, in Plymouth, North Carolina. Grew up tough, a product of the Depression South where grit was currency and faith was anchor.

His mother took him to church, instilling a quiet, stubborn belief in sacrifice and redemption. Faith wasn’t a game to Jacklyn. It was something to live by. He wanted to wear the uniform; no child’s fantasy here—he demanded it. At 14, underweight but relentless, he lied about his age to join the Marines just months after Pearl Harbor.

The Corps didn’t laugh him off. They took a hard look and said, “You’ll earn it.” It was Jacklyn’s first real trial by fire.

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

Iwo Jima — charred earth, choking smoke, raining death. The kind of place that carves a man’s soul into something raw and unbreakable. Lucas was barely 17, a private first class with the 5th Marine Division, part of the 1st Battalion, 27th Marines.

The Marines pushed inland under fierce enemy fire. Suddenly, Japanese soldiers lobbed grenades.

His actions came without hesitation.

Two grenades landed near his position. With no time to think or run, Lucas threw himself onto both, absorbing the blasts with his body. His flesh tore, bones shattered—but those grenades never crippled his squad.

He didn’t wait for orders. He acted. They survived because he chose to be a shield—even when death was the closer companion.

He survived wounds that doctors believed impossible to live through: severe burns, two fractured legs, a mangled arm.

Earning the Medal of Honor

At 17, Jacklyn Harold Lucas became the youngest Marine in history to receive the Medal of Honor — the nation’s highest combat decoration. President Harry Truman awarded him the medal on October 5, 1945.

The Medal of Honor citation reads:

“With extraordinary courage and complete disregard for his own safety… he threw himself on two grenades which had been thrown into his foxhole… by virtue of his heroic act, he saved the lives of the other Marines present.”¹

His company commander said it best:

“I have never seen anyone—man or boy—show such courage under fire.”²

Medals decorated his chest, but Lucas never wore them to brag. They were reminders. Sacred scars.

Scarred but Unbroken: The Legacy of Sacrifice

The war left him maimed beyond belief. More surgeries than a man should face. But his spirit? Unbreakable.

Lucas went back to civilian life carrying lessons in sacrifice, honor, and redemption deeper than scars. He became a mentor for wounded warriors and a clear voice about the cost of freedom.

He once said,

“I didn’t choose to be a hero. I only did what my brothers needed.”³

It’s a simple truth, buried in the dust of war. Real courage is selfless and earned in moments when the world burns around you.

A Testament Written in Flesh and Faith

Jacklyn Harold Lucas’s story isn’t just about a moment on a battlefield. It’s about the fire tested inside a boy who became a man by standing in harm’s way for others.

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

His blood stained that volcanic island, but his legacy reaches far beyond. The youngest Marine to wear the Medal of Honor reminds us all there’s no age to courage. There’s only the choice—stand and face the fire, or run and live with the weight.

Jack Lucas chose to stand. His scars carry witness to a truth every combat vet knows: sacrifice is never wasted. It threads through history, binding generations to the same solemn code of honor—to hold the line, to carry the burden, to never leave a comrade behind.

Sources

1. U.S. Marine Corps History Division — Medal of Honor Citation: Jacklyn Harold Lucas 2. Richard M. Ketchum, The Final Battle: Marines in the Victory on Iwo Jima (1984) 3. Jack Lucas Interview, U.S. Veterans History Project, Library of Congress