Jacklyn Harold Lucas, Youngest Marine to Receive the Medal of Honor

Nov 19 , 2025

Jacklyn Harold Lucas, Youngest Marine to Receive the Medal of Honor

The blast tore through the quiet night. Two grenades, seconds from death, landed among a cluster of Marines. Jacklyn Harold Lucas was 17. No hesitation. No second thought. He dove—chest down—covering the explosions with his own body.

Blood soaked his uniform. Shrapnel shredded flesh and bone. But he lived. And so did the men behind him.

Childhood Roots in a Hard Land

Jacklyn Lucas was born August 14, 1928, in Plymouth, North Carolina. Raised in poverty during the Great Depression, he learned toughness early—not just muscle, but heart. His parents divorced when he was young. His home was a rough-and-tumble orphanage and summer camps, his teachers often the hard truths of survival rather than classrooms.

He ran away at 14, seeking meaning and belonging. He found it in the Marine Corps, lying about his age to enlist—driven by a fierce will to serve, and by a faith that flickered quietly beneath the grime and grit. He carried a Bible and held tight to Psalm 91, the Soldier’s Psalm guarding him through his darkest hours.

“Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place.” (Psalm 91:9)

Tarawa: Baptism by Fire

The Battle of Tarawa, November 20, 1943. A tightly defended atoll in the Gilbert Islands. Japan had fortified Betio Island with 4,500 troops. The Marines faced 12-foot coral reefs, surf fueled by shellfire, and enemy bunkers that screamed death at every step.

Lucas was barely 15 when he upped his age to enlist. By Tarawa, he’d recently turned 17. His role: scout and rifleman, carrying ammo and bearing witness to carnage few would survive. The first wave crashed ashore under withering gunfire. Marines fell like flies.

Then came the moment. Two grenades tossed into their foxhole. The instinct—knife and bullet training burned into muscle memory but no training could shape that moment. He flung himself forward, pressing his body over the grenades as they detonated.

Shards shredded his arms and chest. Both kidneys were blown out. His heart stopped twice. Doctors later described his survival as "miraculous."

Heroism Honored in Blood

Lucas’s wounds stuffed him into military hospitals for months. When recovery came, a Medal of Honor ceremony followed—December 11, 1945. His citation described actions "above and beyond the call of duty," the youngest Marine ever to receive this nation's highest valor.

“At age 17, Jacklyn Harold Lucas is the youngest U.S. Marine to receive the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary heroism while serving with the First Marine Division at the Battle of Tarawa.”[1]

His commanding officers revered him. Col. David M. Shoup, Medal of Honor recipient himself for Iwo Jima, said:

“The courage Jack exhibited that day shines as an example for every Marine who ever wore the uniform.”[2]

Lucas’s story tested war’s rawest reality—the line between life and death passed not to heroes, but to those who choose to stand tall in hell’s fire.

Legacy Written in Scars

Wounded beyond belief, Lucas returned to civilian life—his scars a testament, his faith an anchor. He spoke rarely, but when he did, it was to remind that courage demands sacrifice. Not glory or medals, but the willingness to bear the unbearable for your brothers in arms.

His life threaded with redemption—the boy who ran from his broken past found a purpose in giving himself wholly to something greater: honor, duty, love of country.

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

For veterans, Lucas’s story is a mirror—of grit, pain, and grace. For civilians, a call—to remember that freedom often walks on bloodied feet, held up by unbreakable wills.

Jacklyn Harold Lucas did not seek heroes. He lived as one—a living testament that courage is born when faith, flesh, and fury collide on hell's turf. His legacy is the echo of a boy who became a brother in arms, who chose to shield others with the only weapon left—his own broken body.

Sources

1. Naval History and Heritage Command, “Jacklyn H. Lucas, Medal of Honor Recipient” 2. Shoup, David M., Marine Corps Memoirs: The Battle for Iwo Jima (Naval Institute Press, 1959)