Jacklyn Lucas Jr, the youngest WWII Marine to win the Medal of Honor

Jan 12 , 2026

Jacklyn Lucas Jr, the youngest WWII Marine to win the Medal of Honor

Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr. was only 17 when the war found him. Not behind a desk. Not on the sidelines. But in the teeth of hell, saving lives with everything he had — a boy molded into a man by fire and blood.

The Boy Soldier and a Code Beyond Years

Born in 1928, in the shadows of the Great Depression, Lucas grew up with grit crisscrossed by hard faith. His mother, a devout woman, instilled a fierce sense of right and wrong—and a belief that pain and sacrifice could forge something holy. At fifteen, Jacklyn lied about his age to enlist in the Marines. The Corps doesn’t take boys lightly, but it took him anyway—because Lucas was hungry for purpose, for a fight bigger than himself.

He carried more than a rifle. He carried a belief that some things were worth dying for.

“Greater love hath no man than this,” he’d later recall, “to lay down his life for his friends.”[1]

Peleliu: The Crucible

September 1944, Peleliu Island. The air hung thick with death—gunfire, explosions, the metallic stench of blood and burnt flesh. The 1st Marine Division pushed forward against fortified Japanese positions that refused to break.

Lucas was with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines. Day after hellish day, the Marines clawed through jungle hell. And then it happened—two enemy grenades landed among his squad.

No hesitation. No second thought.

Lucas threw himself on the grenades, screaming for his buddies to jump back. The blasts tore through his chest and legs — his body the only barrier between death and his comrades.

He should have died there. His ribs shattered. He lost his right eye and fingers. Blood sprayed like a biblical flood.

But he lived.

A kid once. Now a legend.

Medal of Honor: Blood and Valor

On February 8, 1945, at just 17 years old, Jacklyn Harold Lucas was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Truman. The youngest Marine, youngest serviceman in World War II to receive the nation’s highest honor.

His citation spoke plain truth:

“Private First Class Lucas...heroically threw himself on two enemy grenades...absorbed the full force of the explosions...saving the lives of his comrades...displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.”[2]

Marine officers remembered him as “a warrior with the heart of a giant.” His own words were quieter but deeper:

“I just didn't want to die there that day. You do what you’ve got to do to survive, and if you save a few guys, that's a blessing.”[3]

After the Battle: Scars That Tell a Story

Years later, Jack Lucas reflected on the cost. Blind in one eye, crippled hands, and scarred body. But never broken spirit.

“War’s teeth leave marks,” he said. “But it’s what you do with those scars that counts.”

Faith gave him strength—Psalm 91:4: “He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust.” A promise fulfilled on Peleliu’s shattering sand.

He carried a message more powerful than medals: courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it. Sacrifice is never wasted.

Legacy Written in Blood and Hope

Jacklyn Lucas left behind a legacy far beyond heroic headlines. He taught young warriors how to stand when everything screams to fall. That even the smallest soldier—barely a man by clock, but vast in will—can change the course for many.

In a world too casual about sacrifice, Lucas’s story is a crucible reminder: freedom is bought with blood, and honor is earned with grit.

He passed in 2008, but the echoes of his charge still thunder. Marines still tell his story—not as myth, but as doctrine. A young man who chose to shield others with his own flesh. A vivid testament that valor lives where sacrifice bleeds.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” — Joshua 1:9

Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr. embodied that command. His legacy bleeds through time—scars and all—carved into the very marrow of the Corps.

Sources

1. Marine Corps University, "Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr.: Youngest Medal of Honor Recipient in WWII" 2. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients 1863-1994 3. Veterans History Project, Library of Congress Interview, Jacklyn Lucas Oral History, 2002