Jacklyn Lucas Saved Two at Iwo Jima and Won the Medal of Honor

Dec 11 , 2025

Jacklyn Lucas Saved Two at Iwo Jima and Won the Medal of Honor

Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr. was a boy forged in the unforgiving crucible of war before his twentieth birthday. Barely nineteen, with hands scarred by battle and a heart steel-tempered beyond his years, he faced death not once, but twice, and survived by sacrificing his flesh to save his brothers-in-arms.

The Battle That Defined Him

November 20, 1942. The beaches of Iwo Jima roared with hellfire and chaos. The Marine Corps had landed on hostile shores—rocks slick with blood and sand, grenades raining from enemy foxholes. Among them, young Lucas moved through the madness.

Two enemy grenades pitched into his foxhole. No time for hesitation. In a heartbeat, he dove atop them, body buckling under the blasts. Shrapnel tore through his face, chest, and arms. The pain was blinding, the wounds near mortal—but he lived. Two grenades—two lives saved.

He was the youngest Marine to receive the Medal of Honor in WWII, a title earned in blood and grit. Not for glory, but for the men beside him. Not for himself, but for the lives weighted on his battered frame.

Background & Faith

Born in April 1928 in Plymouth, North Carolina, Lucas wasn’t supposed to be at Iwo Jima. Too young by military standards, he lied about his age to enlist. A restless spirit stitched from small-town grit and a hunger for purpose.

His faith was a quiet force in his life. Raised with a strong Christian foundation, he leaned into scripture when darkness closed in. As Romans 12:12 etched in his heart, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Lucas didn’t just want to fight; he wanted to fight for something greater than himself. That code—honor, sacrifice, service—was the marrow in his bones.

The Fury of Combat

Before Iwo Jima, Lucas survived brutal fighting on Guadalcanal, already decorated for valor. He endured relentless patrols, jungle heat, and enemy fire, yet kept pushing forward.

The grenade incident at Iwo Jima was no spontaneous heroism, but a desperate act ingrained by experience and love for his comrades. He could see the terror in their eyes, the fragility of life hanging by threads—and chose to bear the burden.

His wounds were catastrophic—third-degree burns and facial scarring that would remain lifelong testimony to his courage. In the hospital bed, Lucas would say nothing about his pain. A man with a mission doesn’t complain.

Recognition & Reverence

For his actions, Lucas received the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony on June 28, 1943. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called him “a man of unquestionable heroism.” George C. Marshall praised his sacrifice as “an example for every soldier and Marine.”

In his Medal of Honor citation, it reads plainly:

“Although grievously wounded by the explosion ... he unhesitatingly flung himself on two grenades and absorbed the exploding charges in his body, thereby saving the lives of two other Marines in the same foxhole.”

Comrades who witnessed his act called him “courageous beyond his years,” a man whose bravery wasn’t born of recklessness, but an iron will to protect his brothers.

Legacy & Lessons

Jacklyn Lucas lived a long life shadowed by wounds but uplifted by faith. He said once, “I didn’t do what I did to be a hero. I did it because they were my brothers.” His story is not only of war’s brutality but of the redemptive power of sacrifice.

His scars remind us: courage is not the absence of fear, but action in the face of it. Sacrifice is not just a battlefield act—but a lifelong calling. And faith is the compass that turns chaos into purpose.

For veterans crushed by their memories and civilians puzzled by valor, Jacklyn’s life stands as a beacon—a testament that no matter how young, how broken, or how alone, a man can choose to save others even at the cost of himself.

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13

That is Jacklyn Harold Lucas.

That is the blood and breath of true courage.

Sources

1. Medal of Honor citation, Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr., U.S. Marine Corps. 2. “Jacklyn Harold Lucas,” Congressional Medal of Honor Society archives. 3. Rottman, Gordon L., U.S. Marine Corps World War II Order of Battle: Ground and Air Units in the Pacific War, 1939-1945, Greenwood Press, 2001. 4. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Medal of Honor ceremony transcript, June 28, 1943.