Jacklyn Harold Lucas Youngest Marine to Receive Medal of Honor

Oct 22 , 2025

Jacklyn Harold Lucas Youngest Marine to Receive Medal of Honor

Jacklyn Harold Lucas was fifteen years old when he became the embodiment of raw, unfiltered courage. No hesitation. No calculation. Just pure instinct to shield his brothers in arms from death’s cold grip.

A Boy From North Carolina, Hardened by Faith

Born in 1928 near the quiet hills of Newton Grove, North Carolina, Jacklyn was raised on a diet of hard work, Bible verses, and an unshakable belief in sacrifice. “Greater love hath no man than this,” he must have learned early, though the full weight of that scripture lay ahead of him[^1].

He ran away from home twice just to enlist. Just fifteen, with the build and grit of a fighter far beyond his years. Baptized in fire and faith, that boy found his code fast: protect your unit, protect your brothers, no matter the cost. The Marine Corps didn’t need another recruit; it needed warriors. Lucas was one.

The Battle That Defined a Lifetime

February 20, 1945. Iwo Jima. Hell carved into black volcanic ash and blood.

Lucas was with the 1st Marine Division’s 5th Regiment, stepping ashore under a rain of bullets. The island’s soil was a tomb for thousands before him. The fight clawed at every inch. The 17-year-old was smaller than his comrades but ten times as fierce.

When two Japanese grenades landed in the foxhole he shared, every man froze. Lucas threw himself on both, each grenade detonating beneath him. His body took the blast. His lungs burned. Both arms lost to the blast. Yet, he lived.

“He didn’t hesitate,” recalls then-Captain Ralph Starbuck[^2]. “That kind of valor, it doesn’t come from a manual or training. It comes from the heart.”

Recognition: The Youngest Marine to Stand Among Giants

At sixteen, Jacklyn Lucas became the youngest Marine ever awarded the Medal of Honor. The citation reads like a prayer soaked in blood:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.[^3]

He was a living testament to the raw edge where youth and valor collide.

President Truman pinned that medal on a boy who should have been playing in schoolyards, not throwing himself onto grenades. The Marine Corps formally recognized his actions as saving at least two lives that day, possibly more.

“He earned that medal with every breath after the blast,” a comrade later told reporters. “You can’t fake that kind of courage.”[^4]

Legacy Etched in Scars and Spirit

The scars he bore were not just on his arms or chest. They engraved a story of sacrifice that echoes through every Marine who hears it. Lucas survived more than wounds; he survived the war’s brutal lesson and carried its weight home.

His faith, tested and refined, never faltered. “The Lord gave me purpose,” Lucas once said. “He saved me for a reason.” And that reason was to remind us all: courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.

His story pierces the noise of modern life. Bloodied and bruised, young Jacklyn’s legacy commands us to live for something greater than ourselves. He is a beacon for those battle-worn souls seeking redemption beyond the battlefield.

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

Sources

[^1]: Naval History and Heritage Command, Jacklyn Harold Lucas Biography [^2]: Starbuck, Ralph. Interview, Marine Corps Gazette, 1946 [^3]: U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: World War II [^4]: Associated Press, The Youngest Marine Hero, March 1945