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

Dec 07 , 2025

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

Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr. III was just a boy when war scarred his soul forever. Barely seventeen. Yet under a hellish sky on Iwo Jima, he smashed the line between youth and legend with a brutal act of self-sacrifice that saved lives but broke his own body.

A Boy with a Warrior's Heart

Born in November 1928 in Plymouth, North Carolina, Lucas grew up steeped in a tough Southern grit and a steady faith. His family was poor, but his mother’s prayers and old hymns filled their home. The boy carried a simple code: honor above fear, courage above comfort.

He lied about his age to enlist in the Marines at 14. Twice he was pulled back by recruiters—too young, a rule he was born to break. Finally, using a signed permission slip from his mother and a little audacity, he joined the fight in 1942. He wasn’t just escaping poverty or seeking adventure, but answering a call larger than himself.

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

Hell on Iwo Jima

February 19, 1945. The volcanic ash ground hissed with gunfire and smoke choked the air. Iwo Jima was hell carved in volcanic rock—a fortress crawling with enemy soldiers baiting death at every turn.

Amid the chaos, Lucas, now 17 but still a bare-faced kid among hardened veterans, crawled forward with his rifle. Suddenly, two enemy grenades landed near his fire team. There was no time, no space to throw them back.

Without hesitation, Lucas hurled himself over the explosives. Two grenades exploded beneath him. The blast seared his body, blew off most of his fingers, and tore open his chest and legs. Yet, he lived—barely. His sacrifice shielded his comrades from certain death.

The Marines watching couldn’t believe the courage. They saw a kid trading his youth for their lives—no hesitation, no second thought.

Medal of Honor and Aftermath

Jacklyn Lucas holds the unmatched distinction of being the youngest Marine to ever receive the Medal of Honor.

His official citation tells the bare facts:

“With complete disregard for his own life, he threw himself on two enemy grenades, absorbing the blasts and protecting those around him.”

Commanders and fellow Marines witnessed a hero forged in fire, a boy turned immortal by a moment’s choice.

Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, himself a legend, called Lucas’s courage, “beyond commendable—not just gallantry, but selfless love.”

The scars never fully healed. Lucas endured over 200 surgeries to reconstruct his hands, legs, and chest. Yet he carried no bitterness. His faith anchored him, shaping the man he became after the war.

A Living Testament

Jack Lucas’s story is not just about a moment of valor. It is a testimony to the weight of sacrifice and the power of redemption.

He once said, “I was lucky to survive to tell people what not to do,” turning his horrific wounds into a message of hope and peaceful purpose.

His life reminds us that bravery is not the absence of fear—it is the choice to act in spite of it. That sometimes, war demands unbearable costs from the youngest among us.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” — Matthew 5:9

Today, his legacy calls veterans and civilians alike to carry the scars of sacrifice with reverence and to build a world worthy of that price.

The blood on those grenades was not spilled in vain. It echoes through every fallen comrade, every grateful survivor, every brother and sister called home by war. And in that haunting echo, Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr. III stands unbowed—an immortal flame of courage no enemy can extinguish.