Jacklyn Lucas, Youngest Marine Awarded Medal of Honor at Iwo Jima

Feb 10 , 2026

Jacklyn Lucas, Youngest Marine Awarded Medal of Honor at Iwo Jima

Jacklyn Harold Lucas was thirteen years old when war called. Not several months or a year—thirteen. When bullets tore through Iwo Jima’s black volcanic ash, and grenades spun their cruel dance, this boy’s heart hammered with a soldier’s steadfast rage. No hesitation. No flinching. Just raw, bloodied courage forged in the furnace of combat.

He threw himself on two grenades. Not once, but twice. Twice. To save his brothers.

The Reckless Heart of a Boy Warrior

Born August 14, 1928, in Plymouth, North Carolina, Jacklyn Lucas grew up under the hard hand of the Great Depression. A scrappy kid, raised with a rough-edged moral compass—honor, duty, and faith. He lied about his age to enlist in the Marines at just fifteen. The Corps smashed doubts out of him, tempering a boy into an unbreakable man.

Jack’s faith anchored him. Soldier and preacher’s son. Church taught sacrifice, redemption, and something bigger than self. He carried those lessons with him, not as prayers alone but as battle cries.

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

Iwo Jima: Hellfire and Heroism

February 19, 1945. The Marines stormed Iwo Jima, the Island that would carve itself into every Marine’s soul. Smoke and ash choked the air. Every step forward dug deeper into hell.

Jacklyn was a rifleman with the 1st Marine Division, a kid on the front line in a sea of seasoned warriors. Barely sixteen, teeth clenched, eyes sharp as gunmetal. Surrounded by fire, chaos, shock—the ground crumbled with bombs and bullets.

His Medal of Honor citation is stark. During one bloody fight, two grenades landed among his squad. Not thinking, no calculation—he dived on them both.

The first explosion blew him over. Steel fractured, bones shattered, skin melted. But it wasn’t enough to silence him.

A second grenade landed nearby. He lunged again, taking hellfire to his body to shield his comrades.

By war’s mercy or fate’s grace, he survived. Pulled from the muck of Iwo Jima, a walking testament to sacrificial valor.

The Medal and the Man

Jacklyn Harold Lucas remains the youngest U.S. Marine to ever earn the Medal of Honor, awarded personally by President Harry Truman in October 1945.

His citation reads:

“With complete disregard for his own life and without hesitation, he hurled himself upon the first grenade to shield his companions… When the first grenade exploded and injured him, he again hurled his body upon a second grenade, thereby absorbing the full force of the explosion with his own body.”

Generals and fellow Marines spoke of him as beyond brave. Marine Corps historian Robert Sherrod called Lucas “the bravest Marine I ever knew.”

Yet Jacklyn never saw himself as a hero—not just the boy who suffered the scars of multiple surgeries and pain that lasted a lifetime. He credited his survival to God’s mercy and the prayers of others.

Blood, Bone, and Legacy

Lucas did not live a life defined by medals alone. He lived as a witness to pain, endurance, and faith. After the war, he dedicated himself to helping others see courage beyond the battlefield.

The boy who threw himself into fire could teach the world about redemption. Courage isn’t absence of fear. It’s standing in the broken hell and choosing life’s worth.

That same unapologetic, sacrificial courage reminds us today: freedom costs blood—not just in war but in honest living, bearing scars, and standing for something greater.

In every scar, every sacrifice, a story of redemption beats steady.

Jacklyn Harold Lucas offers that story—etched in flesh, faith, and fighting spirit. A boy who became a Marine. A Marine who became legend.

May we all carry that flame forward.

Sources

1. Medal of Honor citation, Jacklyn Harold Lucas. U.S. Army Center of Military History. 2. With the Old Breed, Eugene B. Sledge. Presidio Press, 1981 (historical context of Iwo Jima). 3. Sherrod, Robert. History of Marine Corps Operations in World War II, Marine Corps Historical Center. 4. Truman Library, Medal of Honor ceremony transcript, Oct 1945.