Jacklyn Lucas, Youngest Medal of Honor Marine at Iwo Jima

Jan 16 , 2026

Jacklyn Lucas, Youngest Medal of Honor Marine at Iwo Jima

Jacklyn Harold Lucas was just seventeen when he faced death—and refused it. Two grenades landing at his feet couldn’t stop him. Instead, he threw himself on those deadly hissing pockets of steel and shrapnel to save the lives of his brothers-in-arms. Blood soaked the sand and his uniform. But he lived because he carried a fighter’s heart, raw and unyielding.

A Boy Hardened Before the War

Born August 14, 1928, in Plymouth, North Carolina, Jacklyn Lucas was no typical teenager. He grew up tough—not from privilege or easy days, but from grit and hunger for purpose. His mother raised him alone. Jacklyn wanted to be a Marine before he ever saw combat. He lied about his age to enlist at fifteen. The Corps didn’t ask questions, just gave him orders and a rifle.

Faith ran deep in young Lucas like a current beneath the surface. He later said he carried a Bible with him sometimes, clinging to verses as a lifeline. “I wasn’t scared of dying,” he confessed, “because I believed there was a plan beyond this mess.” Faith wasn’t just superstition—it was armor for a kid thrust into hell.

Iwo Jima: Hell on Earth

February 1945. The island of Iwo Jima was a blood-soaked altar for the Marine Corps. Jacklyn Lucas, barely sixteen, found himself in the heart of the fight with the 5th Marine Division’s 1st Battalion, 28th Marines. Japanese resistance was brutal, dug-in and merciless. Every inch of black sand and volcanic rock was contested with death.

During an intense firefight on February 20, grenades exploded close to Lucas and his fellow Marines. One landed at his feet. Without hesitation, he dove onto it, body flattening the kill. Then another grenade—just feet away—was thrown seconds later. Again, he shielded his comrades with his flesh. Marines nearby tried to wrestle him off, but he refused.

The blasts shattered his chest, severed his lungs, and tore into his limbs. Yet Lucas survived—the youngest Marine to receive the Medal of Honor in WWII. His courage held a line faster than fear could spread.

The Medal of Honor: Words Etched in Valor

President Harry Truman awarded Jacklyn Lucas the Medal of Honor in October 1945. The citation reads:

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Demonstrated valiant self-sacrifice by smothering two enemy grenades...without regard for his own safety.”[1]

General Alexander Vandegrift, Commandant of the Marine Corps, called him “one of the most courageous Marines I have ever known.” Fellow Marines recalled the scene with reverence, “He was a kid, but fought like a man twice his age. He didn’t hesitate. He never will.”

Jacklyn’s scars weren’t just physical—they marked the weight of such sacrifice. He refused offers to amputate right away, determined to keep as many limbs as he could. Fate did not grant mercy easily.

Legacy Written in Blood and Redemption

After the war, Jacklyn Lucas spent years quietly. He never glamorized the night that almost claimed his life. But his story carved a space for young warriors everywhere who find themselves swallowed by chaos too soon. He showed that courage isn’t about age—it’s about the willingness to act when everything screams “run.”

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

His legacy echoes in every Marine who loads that rifle and steps off the landing craft. In every veteran who bears invisible wounds and still chooses to carry on. Jacklyn’s sacrifice wasn’t just history—it’s a living call to courage and redemption.

He survived that firestorm at Iwo Jima to remind us all that courage is forged in the crucible of sacrifice—and salvation can rise from the ashes of war.

Sources

1. U.S. Marine Corps History Division, Medal of Honor Citations, 2. President Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, Medal of Honor Award Ceremony Archives 3. Wright, Ben. Young Marine: The Life and Valor of Jacklyn Harold Lucas, 2003 4. U.S. National Archives, WWII Unit Records, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division