Jacklyn Lucas, Youngest Marine to Receive the Medal of Honor at Tarawa

Nov 27 , 2025

Jacklyn Lucas, Youngest Marine to Receive the Medal of Honor at Tarawa

Jacklyn Harold Lucas was fifteen years old when he pressed his body onto two live grenades, saving the lives of his Marines. The air screamed with death. The earth shook. Boys younger than boys should be were begging the war to end. But there, in the maelstrom, Lucas became a legend. He took hell on himself—and lived.

The Blood Runs Early

Lucas was born in 1928, the son of a working-class family in North Carolina. A boy full of fire and hard grit, he ran away twice to join the Marines. First time, the recruiters sent him home. Second time, he forged his mother’s signature and slipped into the Corps at age 14—the youngest Marine in World War II.[1]

What drives a boy to walk legions into hell? Faith and fierce loyalty carved from the southern soil. Lucas grew up steeped in the Bible, clinging to Psalm 144:1—“Blessed be the Lord my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle.” That scripture steeled his resolve, painted his service not as reckless youth, but as a calling to bear the wounds others might not survive.

He carried this mindset into battle: Marines protect Marines. No hesitation when the red mist settled.

Tarawa: Where Time Stood Still

November 20, 1943. The Battle of Tarawa. One of the bloodiest, shortest, most brutal fights in the Pacific Theater.

Lucas was assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, but twenty hours into the island hellscape, the enemy artillery tore through his unit. Bullets whizzed, explosions tore men apart like rag dolls. Marine casualties soared. A live grenade bounced near Lucas and two wounded Marines.

The grenade spun—a steel demon ready to rip them all apart. His training dissolved into instinct.

Without a word, Lucas dove forward. His 14-year-old body covered that grenade. One grenade. No pause. One grenade and lives saved.

But it was never one grenade.

A marine officer saw a second grenade land. Lucas shielded his comrades again.

His chest and legs were shredded. His stomach left with permanent scars where shrapnel lodged forever.

He was rushed to a hospital ship, legs barely there but still alive.

The Medal and Words That Echo

Lucas was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Tarawa. At 17, he remains the youngest Marine to receive it. His citation reads:

“In a position with 2 wounded Marines, when 2 enemy grenades landed among them, Pfc. Lucas unhesitatingly threw himself on the grenades and absorbed the full explosion with his body. Despite his serious wounds, he aided in the removal of his comrades to safety.”[2]

General Alexander Vandegrift, Commandant of the Marine Corps, praised him bluntly: “Lucas gave every Marine the example of what courage and self-sacrifice mean.”

Lucas survived those wounds only to face others—losing part of his leg, living with the daily pain and memory of the fight. But he never wore his scars as trophies. They were a burden and a badge of honor—a testament to what sacrifice demands.

From Combat to Redemption

After the war, Lucas struggled—as many veterans do—with the weight of survival when others hadn’t. He served again in the Korean War and later worked to support veterans.

His faith never wavered. It deepened. He saw his survival not as luck, but as divine purpose.

“I was spared for a reason,” he said. “God didn’t want me to fold. He wanted me to stand. To keep fighting the fight, maybe not with a rifle, but with my life.”[3]

Lucas’s legacy is raw, real, and relentless.

Blood, Faith, and the Price of Valor

Jacklyn Harold Lucas’s story cuts through the fog. It’s the young Marine’s wild heart clutching at grenades and scripture. The kid who refused to accept death as the final word.

Not every war story ends in glory. Not every hero walks away whole. Lucas reminds us: courage demands sacrifice, but grace carries us beyond it.

For those who watch from the rear lines—remember Psalm 18:39:

“For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet.”

He took the blast, so others could live. The cost etched in flesh. The legacy written with blood.

Sources

1. Marine Corps Times, “Jacklyn Harold Lucas: The Youngest Marine to Earn the Medal of Honor” 2. Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Medal of Honor Citation for Jacklyn Harold Lucas 3. The History Channel, “World War II Medal of Honor Recipients: Jacklyn Lucas”