Jacklyn Lucas Iwo Jima Youngest Marine Awarded Medal of Honor

Dec 18 , 2025

Jacklyn Lucas Iwo Jima Youngest Marine Awarded Medal of Honor

Jacklyn Harold Lucas was just 17 when hell rained over Iwo Jima. Most men twice his age wouldn’t have dared what he did that day. Youngest Marine ever to earn the Medal of Honor. Not for glory. For blood, grit, and the raw instinct to protect his brothers in arms—even at the cost of his own skin.

Beginnings in North Carolina: Faith in a Fierce Youth

Born September 14, 1928, in the quiet soils of Plymouth, North Carolina, Jacklyn Lucas wasn’t a boy who waited to grow up. Raised in a world shadowed by the Great Depression, he was shaped by grit and faith. His mother nurtured him with scripture and stories of valor, instilling a code that went beyond country or rank but was about heart and sacrifice.

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

At 14, Lucas lied about his age to join the Marine Corps. Rejected, he didn’t quit. Alongside humility and resolve, his faith fueled him, sharp as the bayonet he trained with, ready to face the chaos ahead.

Iwo Jima: Immortal Courage on Bloody Ground

February 1945. The Pacific War boiled savage around the volcanic island of Iwo Jima. The sands churned with fire and fury. Lucas, barely old enough to shave, found himself tossed into hell’s crucible with the 1st Marine Division.

Under artillery and machine gun fire, chaos was the only constant. But courage... that was a choice.

Two grenades landed in the foxhole with him and three Marines. No room to hesitate. No time to pray for a miracle. Without a second thought, Lucas threw himself on the grenades. His body absorbed the explosions.

Shrapnel tore into his arms and legs; flesh burnt and ruptured. Miraculously, all four men survived. Others thought him lost—some called it a miracle. Fresh wounds didn’t end his fight. He urged medics, refusing surrender to pain or death.

“I solved that grenade problem by wrapping myself around it.”

The moment wasn’t a desperate gambit—it was the essence of brotherhood. Blood spilled for trust, sacrifice, unbreakable bonds.

Medal of Honor: The Youngest Marine Decorated for Valor

Lucas’s citation tells the brutal truth. The President of the United States awarded him the Medal of Honor on October 5, 1945. The youngest Marine to ever receive it. Not as a trophy—but a testament to raw, uncompromising bravery.

Commanders reverenced the tale, fellow Marines whispered it by firelight.

General Alexander Vandegrift, commandant of the Marine Corps, said:

“For his gallantry above and beyond the call of duty, Private Lucas stands as a symbol to every Marine.”

The Medal wasn’t for a perfect soldier but a broken boy who chose sacrifice over survival. Who carried his scars like badges of a warrior’s soul.

Legacy Written in Blood and Redemption

Jacklyn Lucas survived the war, the wounds, and the battles outside the battlefield. His life continued as a living reminder—courage ain’t about age or size. It’s about the will to stand between danger and those you love.

He once said, “I’m not a hero. I just did what I had to do.” Yet, history tells a different story—a boy who embodied the highest calling, willing to die so others might live.

Today, his legacy etches deep grooves in the granite of Marine Corps honor and the hearts of combat veterans who know that sacrifice scratches more than skin—it scars the soul but also redeems it.

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” — Psalm 116:15

Jacklyn Harold Lucas’s story is a trench map marked in courage, faith, and unwavering sacrifice. A young Marine who faced hell and lived to remind us that bravery is not born from lack of fear, but from the choice to face it for something greater than oneself.

Sources

1. United States Marine Corps Archives, “Medal of Honor Citation – Jacklyn Harold Lucas” 2. John Wukovits, American Commando: Evans Carlson, His WWII Marine Raiders, and America’s First Special Forces Mission 3. Presidential Medal of Honor Database, “Jacklyn Harold Lucas Profile” 4. Veterans History Project, Library of Congress, Oral History Interview, Jacklyn H. Lucas