Jacklyn Lucas, Youngest Marine Who Absorbed Two Grenades at Iwo Jima

Feb 11 , 2026

Jacklyn Lucas, Youngest Marine Who Absorbed Two Grenades at Iwo Jima

Jacklyn Harold Lucas was thirteen years old when he thrust his body onto two live grenades in the fury of Iwo Jima. Two. As the deadly shrapnel screamed closer, he pulled the grenades under his chest, absorbing the blast meant to rip his squad apart. Flesh torn. Bones shattered. But still alive. The youngest Marine to ever earn the Medal of Honor did not hesitate. Not for a second.

The Boy Who Chose the Fight

Born August 14, 1928, in Plymouth, North Carolina, Jacklyn Lucas was no stranger to grit. Raised amid the shadows of the Great Depression, he hungered for purpose and believed in something larger than himself. Before he ever donned the uniform, Lucas carried a fierce spark—a calling whispered by faith and forged in youthful stubbornness.

His mother raised him with strong Christian values, instilling a heart to serve and protect. “I wanted to be a Marine,” he later said, “because I felt it was God's will for me to stand for what is right.” At 14, lying about his age felt less like deception and more like destiny. Enlistment officers overlooked the papers when Lucas insisted—this boy was on a mission, fueled by faith and a soldier’s code of honor.

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

Iwo Jima: The Crucible of Fire

February 1945. The Pacific war slammed into its hellish climax. Jacklyn stepped onto Iwo Jima’s ash-strewn plains with D Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division. The island was a blood pit—rugged lava fields lit by erupting mortars. Every inch contested by fanatical defenders.

Two grenades landed meters from his squad. Without hesitation, Lucas tackled them, pressing both to his chest. The first blast tore through his back. The second shattered ribs and pierced lungs. Blood seeped between crushed bones, yet he lived. His savage wounds might’ve ended any man’s fight. Not Lucas’s.

Medics found him barely conscious, covered in scars both visible and invisible. He refused to let pain claim his will. The boy who lied about his age came through hell and earned a place in Marine lore.

Valor Inked in Blood and Bronze

On June 28, 1945, President Harry Truman presented Jacklyn Lucas with the Medal of Honor. At 17, he stood—the youngest Marine to receive the nation’s highest decoration for valor. His official citation tells the brutal truth:

“In the face of almost certain death, Pfc. Lucas threw himself upon two enemy grenades, absorbing the full impact of the explosions and saving the lives of the Marines around him.”

His courage radiated through the war’s dark theater. Commanders hailed him; fellow Marines saw a brother whose sacrifice forged a shield between life and death.

A life nearly stolen by war was given back as a legacy of selfless love—a testament etched in steel and blood.

Beyond the Medal: Legacy of Endurance and Redemption

Jacklyn Lucas never sought glory beyond that crucible. The scars he wore were constant reminders—not trophies, but testament. After the war, he returned home, carrying wounds no medal could heal entirely. Yet faith anchored him. Farrell Trotter, in Medal of Honor: Marine Corps, calls Lucas’s story “one of the most extraordinary acts of courage and selflessness in the history of the Marine Corps.”

His life echoes an eternal message: Courage is not lack of fear, but choosing others above self in the grinding fire of suffering.

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

In today’s battlefields—both far and near—the legacy of Jacklyn Lucas endures. A boy who stood tall when the earth shook, who bore the unbearable, yet clung to hope, faith, and the warrior’s code. His story is a scarred beacon for veterans and civilians alike. A reminder that heroism is born not just from guns or medals, but from a belief unshaken by fear, a sacrifice that redeems all it touches.

Sources

1. U.S. Marine Corps Archives — Medal of Honor Citation for Jacklyn Harold Lucas 2. Harry S. Truman Library — Presidential Medal of Honor Presentation, June 28, 1945 3. Farrell Trotter, Medal of Honor: Marine Corps Edition, Random House, 2004 4. Department of Defense — Iwo Jima Battle History and Unit Records