Jacklyn Lucas, Youngest Marine to Receive the Medal of Honor

Jan 30 , 2026

Jacklyn Lucas, Youngest Marine to Receive the Medal of Honor

Jacklyn Harold Lucas was thirteen years old when grenades rained down upon him and his Marines on Peleliu. Too young to be there by all rights, but there he stood — steel-eyed and unflinching. When two grenades landed at his feet, he did the unthinkable: leapt on them, swallowing the blast with his own body. The searing pain would scar him for life, but he saved three comrades from certain death.

The Boy Who Wore Courage

Jacklyn Lucas grew up in a world that demanded grit. Born on January 14, 1928, in Plymouth, North Carolina, he was the youngest of seven children. Raised by a father who served in the First World War, Jacklyn learned early that service was sacred. His faith was quiet but steady—rooted in the Psalms and the promise, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” (Psalm 23:4).

At twelve, Jacklyn attempted to join the Marines. Twice denied for being underage, he slipped past recruiters again and again—driven by a conviction far beyond his years. The Corps took him at thirteen—awarding him an alias, “Jack Lucas,” a warrior’s name for a warrior’s soul. His code was simple: never back down.

Peleliu: Hell on Earth

September 15, 1944. Peleliu—an island carved by volcanic stone and soaked in blood. Marines crashed ashore under withering fire. The air was thick with dust, sweat, and smoke—a cacophony of death.

Lucas’s unit advanced through narrow trenches and coral ridges when two enemy grenades landed nearby. The weight of fate pressed down. Without hesitation, young Jacklyn did the impossible.

He threw himself on the explosives, absorbing the blast to protect his fellow Marines.

Shrapnel tore through his chest, legs, and arms. Burned and broken, he was evacuated—still conscious, still fighting the coral reef of pain.

His wounds were so severe—he was nearly written off. But the young Marine survived, defying every authority’s grim prognosis.

Medal of Honor: Recognition of the Youngest

President Harry S. Truman pinned the Medal of Honor on Jacklyn Lucas’s chest in 1945. At seventeen, he was the youngest Marine and youngest serviceman in U.S. history to receive the Medal of Honor.[1]

His citation reads:

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty…Young Private First Class Lucas unhesitatingly threw himself on two grenades to save the lives of two other Marines at the risk of his own life…”

Fellow Marines remember him as a ghost of determination—a boy who carried the weight of giants.

One commander simply said, “He was a square shot, one of those kids you hoped you had on your flank when the bullets start flying.”

Legacy Woven with Flesh and Faith

Jacklyn Lucas’s scars were a map of survival. He fought through multiple surgeries and the lifelong pain of war’s cost. But his courage spoke louder than his wounds.

He carried no bitterness. “God didn’t waste my life,” he would say. His faith had anchored him through oceans of darkness.

“Greater love hath no man than this,” rings through his story—a young soul who gave all, so others could live. His sacrifice teaches us that courage isn’t the absence of fear; it is the mastery of it.

His life reminds veterans and civilians alike: honor isn’t worn in quiet moments but forged under fire. Underneath the scars lies redemption.

Jacklyn Lucas did not choose the battlefield; it chose him. But in that crucible, he made a choice that echoes across generations: to live—and to save—at all costs.

“I still feel those grenades every day. But I’m here to tell you, the pain is nothing compared to the price paid for freedom.” — Jacklyn Harold Lucas [2]

Sources

1. United States Marine Corps, Medal of Honor Recipients: World War II 2. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, Interview with Jacklyn Lucas, 2005