Jacklyn Lucas, Youngest Marine to Earn the Medal of Honor at Iwo Jima

Jan 16 , 2026

Jacklyn Lucas, Youngest Marine to Earn the Medal of Honor at Iwo Jima

Jacklyn Harold Lucas was 17 years old when he did something no Marine should ever have to do. Grenades exploding around him, bodies falling, chaos swallowing the beach at Iwo Jima—he didn’t flinch. Instead, he dove headfirst onto two live grenades, pressing his body down to save the men beside him. That moment burned his name into Marine Corps history—the youngest Marine ever to receive the Medal of Honor.

Background & Faith: A Boy with Old Soul

Born May 14, 1928, in Plymouth, North Carolina, Jack Lucas was cut from a rougher cloth than most teenagers. He lied about his age to enlist in the Marine Corps at 14. No polished recruiter’s pitch—just a raw hunger to serve, to stand in the breach.

Raised in a humble home, Lucas carried a quiet reverence for faith and sacrifice. The Bible wasn’t just words for him—it was a code.

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

That scripture would soon define him, etched under the gunmetal rain of war.

The Battle That Defined Him: Iwo Jima, February 20, 1945

D-Day on Iwo Jima was a crucible of fire. The island was coated in black volcanic ash and volcanic rock, littered with hidden Japanese pillboxes and booby traps. The 5th Marine Division landed to face a pitiless enemy.

Lucas was assigned to the 1st Platoon, Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. Barely more than a boy, he was engulfed by the hellstorm.

On the morning that nearly claimed his life, he spotted two grenades tossed into his foxhole. The instinct was brutal, immediate. Without hesitation, Lucas threw himself onto the grenades, pressing both against his chest. The explosions tore through flesh and bone, shrapnel embedded deep in his legs and torso.

He lived. Miraculously. And with him lived at least two others who owed their breath to his reckless courage.

Recognition: The Medal of Honor and Words That Echo

Lucas’s wounds were severe—he spent months in hospitals recovering from burns, shattered bones, and lung damage. Yet the Marine Corps did not forget. On June 28, 1945, just days after his 17th birthday, Jack Lucas was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman.

His citation bore a truth few understand—the selflessness of youth forced into the grave dance of war.

“Through his unhesitating and valiant act of extraordinary heroism, Corporal Lucas saved the lives of two fellow Marines... at the risk of his own."

In later years, his comrades would remember him not as a kid dreaming of glory but as a man whose scars told stories deeper than any medal.

Marine General Alexander Vandegrift said of Lucas:

“He did what every Marine hopes he can do when the time comes. He did it without hesitation. That’s what makes a hero.”

Legacy & Lessons: A Flame in the Darkness

Jacklyn Harold Lucas’s story is not one of blind bravado or youthful recklessness. It’s the hard-edged lesson that courage is measured in the split seconds you choose other lives over your own.

His scars—physical and invisible—speak to the brutal cost of war. Yet, his faith and grit preached redemption. Lucas dedicated his life after the war to speaking with young people about service, sacrifice, and the realities of combat.

He lived by the code he chose on that beach:

“Be faithful, be fearless, and love fiercely.”

The memory of Lucas demands something from us: to honor the young warriors who pay in blood and breath so others may live free. It demands that we see heroes not as mythic giants—but as flesh and bone men broken and redeemed on the fields far from home.

To carry the weight of valor is to know its cost.

And so his story, stamped in blood and grit, whispers through time:

True valor is not measured by age—it’s carved into the lives saved, the burdens borne, and the faith that endures beyond the battlefield.

Sources

1. U.S. Marine Corps History Division – Jacklyn Harold Lucas, Medal of Honor Recipient 2. HistoryNet – “Jacklyn Lucas: Youngest Medal of Honor Recipient” 3. Presidential Medal of Honor Ceremony Transcript – June 28, 1945 4. Stephen Ambrose, “U.S. Marines at War” (1997)