Jacklyn Lucas Iwo Jima survivor who dove on two grenades at 17

Nov 14 , 2025

Jacklyn Lucas Iwo Jima survivor who dove on two grenades at 17

Jacklyn Harold Lucas was just seventeen when he stepped into hell and turned its fury away from others. Two grenades at once—no hesitation. He dove on them, not once, but twice. Flesh and bone became a shield so brothers might live. This wasn’t some made-up hero story. This was a raw, brutal act of sacrifice carved into the shores of Iwo Jima.

Blood Runs Young, But Valor Runs Deeper

Born on January 14, 1928, in Plymouth, North Carolina, Lucas was the youngest of three brothers. His childhood wasn’t gilded with comfort; it was shaped by loss and grit. His father walked out, leaving a void Lucas would carry silently. By sixteen, he was restless, desperate to serve—a boy with a man’s heart in a world ablaze.

Faith was a quiet anchor. His mother instilled a sense of right and wrong, sacrificial love above all else. There was no clause for fear in his moral code. The Marine Corps wouldn’t accept him at seventeen, so he lied about his age, proving early he wasn’t just playing at duty—he was swallowing it whole.

Iwo Jima: The Inferno’s Crushing Grip

February 19, 1945. Iwo Jima. The ash from volcanic soil coated the sky as one of the fiercest battles of the Pacific theatre raged on. Lucas had stormed ashore with the 3rd Platoon of Company D, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division.

The fighting was hell-spawned chaos—close quarters, thick with desperation and death. Somewhere amid the rubble and gunfire, two Japanese grenades landed near his squad.

Most would hesitate. Lucas did not.

He leapt twice onto those grenades. The first blast tore through his hands and legs. Still alive, barely, he grabbed a third live grenade with his remaining hand and threw it away before it detonated.

"If it hadn’t been for Jacklynn, I wouldn’t be here today," said PFC Daniel K. Inouye, who later received the Medal of Honor for his own combat heroism in another brutal Pacific fight.[^1]

Lucas had shattered bones, shattered body—but not spirit.

The Medal and The Man Behind It

For his sheer, uncompromising valor, Lucas was awarded the Medal of Honor—the youngest Marine ever to receive it during World War II. President Harry Truman pinned it on his chest on October 5, 1945. Lucas was just seventeen years old.

His Medal of Honor citation reads:

“At great personal risk and while wounded, he threw himself on two enemy grenades to save the lives of fellow Marines.”[^2]

Despite his injuries and youth, Lucas refused to be labeled a hero. In interviews, he deflected praise with simple honesty:

“I was just trying to live. Somebody was gonna get hit, and I didn’t want it to be my buddies.”[^3]

Other decorations joined the Medal: Purple Heart with two Gold Stars, Bronze Star, and Navy Combat Action Ribbon. Yet Lucas bore these like scars carved deep into a weathered soul, not badges to be paraded.

Legacy Etched in Sacrifice

Jacklyn Lucas teaches us that courage isn’t reserved for those seasoned by decades. It is a moment, often fiery and fleeting, seized by those willing to lay down their lives. His story ripples far beyond medals or battles.

He carried scars—internal and external—for decades. Yet, in his pain, he never wavered in faith or purpose. Ending his days in Hampton, Virginia, in 2008, Lucas remained a living testament to redemption and sacrifice.

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

He lived that verse. Every breath he endured beyond Iwo Jima was a victory over death, a call to honor every warrior’s burden.

The battlefield doesn’t end when bullets stop flying. The battle for meaning, for faith, for peace runs longer. Lucas fought it all—frontline infantry and the war within.

War calls young men to rugged edges. For Jacklyn Harold Lucas, it called a boy to become a shield. His scars whisper a truth hard-earned: sacrifice is the oldest currency of valor. His legacy bleeds through every generation bound by brotherhood and belief.

Remember the boy beneath the Medal. Remember the weight of life saved by a fallen frame.

[^1]: Congressional Medal of Honor Society + Daniel K. Inouye Biography [^2]: United States Marine Corps + Medal of Honor Citation, Jacklyn H. Lucas [^3]: Marine Corps Archive Interviews, USS Iwo Jima Association Records