Jacklyn Lucas Iwo Jima Youngest Marine Medal of Honor Recipient

Oct 22 , 2025

Jacklyn Lucas Iwo Jima Youngest Marine Medal of Honor Recipient

Jacklyn Harold Lucas was sixteen when hell rained down on him. The smoke thick, the screams sharper than shrapnel. Two grenades landed near his firefight position on Iwo Jima, and he did what no one should ever have to—he threw himself on them. Barely alive, forever marked. Youngest Marine Medal of Honor recipient. Not by luck, but by raw, brutal instinct.

The Boy Who Chose War

Born in November 1928, in Union City, West Virginia, Lucas grew up with a restless spirit and a fierce determination. The son of a miner, he knew both hard work and hard knocks. At 14, inspired by stories of valor, he lied about his age to enlist in the Marines. Twice rejected. The third time, he slipped under the system, fueled by a kid’s hunger to prove himself.

Faith wasn’t loud in Jacklyn’s early years, but hardship brings truth. The battlefield tested more than his courage. It tested his soul. He found quiet strength in Scripture, holding tight to Romans 5:3-4:

“...tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope.”

The Firestorm of Iwo Jima

February 1945. Iwo Jima. One of the bloodiest clashes of the Pacific campaign. Lucas was part of the 1st Marine Division, barely sixteen and thrown into a maelstrom older men feared.

The terrain was a hellscape of volcanic ash and gunfire. On February 20th, under a hailstorm of enemy bullets, two live grenades barreled into Lucas’s foxhole. Without hesitation, the boy-warrior dove on them, swallowing their blast with his own body.

He survived wounds that would have killed most men: a mangled hand, severe burns, and shrapnel wounds to his chest and legs. But he saved two fellow Marines. An unthinkable sacrifice born out of split-second resolve.

“I did what I had to do,” Lucas said later. “No hesitation. Just protect your brothers.”[1]

Honors Worn in Scars and Silence

The Medal of Honor came November 1, 1945—the youngest Marine ever to receive it. President Truman presented the medal, a symbol soaked in blood and resilience.

His citation read:

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Private Lucas... He unhesitatingly threw himself on the grenades, absorbing the full force of the explosions, thereby saving the lives of two fellow Marines.”

Silver Stars and Purple Hearts lined his worn chest too.

Fellow Marines remembered him not just as a hero, but as a humble, quiet man haunted by war’s cost. “Jacklyn’s courage wasn’t about glory," one comrade said. "It was about love—love for his brothers in arms.”[2]

The Legacy of a Wounded Warrior

Jacklyn Lucas’s story is carved into the marrow of Marine Corps history. But his legacy goes beyond medals. It’s about the eternal bond forged in combat, the raw cost of sacrifice, and the chance for redemption in survival.

After the war, Lucas lived quietly, a counselor helping other veterans wrestle with their scars, visible and invisible. His life was a testament that valor emerges not from fortresses but from brokenness patched with hope.

Sacrifice cut deep. Redemption runs deeper.

To those who face storms—whether bullets or burdens—his example is stark and simple: True courage means standing in the gap for others, even when it costs everything.

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

Jacklyn Harold Lucas carried that truth forward with bloodied hands and a steady heart. His fight was brutal, but his purpose was holy. In a fractured world, that kind of sacrifice still speaks.

Sources

1. U.S. Marine Corps Historical Division, Medal of Honor Citation for Jacklyn Harold Lucas 2. Eric Hammel, Iwo Jima: Portrait of a Battle: United States Marines at War in the Pacific, Zenith Press, 2006