Medal of Honor Marine Jacklyn Lucas Jr. Survived Two Grenades on Guam

Jan 28 , 2026

Medal of Honor Marine Jacklyn Lucas Jr. Survived Two Grenades on Guam

Two grenades, one boy, and a thunderous silence that followed.

At 17, Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr. dove into hell with nothing but raw guts and an iron will—a teenage marine who swallowed the chaos, bearing the flames so others could live. It was Guam, July 1944. The ground beneath him was soaked in blood and smoke. The air thick with death, yet young Lucas refused to be stolen by it.

The Boy with a Warrior’s Heart

Born April 14, 1928, in Plymouth, North Carolina, Lucas carried a restless spirit from the start. He lied about his age to enlist—15, no less—because waiting meant watching lives bleed away. The Marines became his family, his crucible.

Faith in God ran deep in him. Raised in a humble Southern Baptist household, he bore witness to Proverbs 22:6—“Train up a child in the way he should go...” His sense of duty wasn’t just to country, but to something higher, a calling to protect life even at supreme personal cost.

He was not yet a man, but already a warrior forged in the furnace of sacrifice and belief.

The Inferno of Guam

July 25, 1944. The battle to reclaim Guam from Japanese occupation was brutal. The enemy dug in, savage and determined. Lucas, newly assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion, 22nd Marines, 6th Marine Division, was barely out of boot camp.

During a fierce firefight, two enemy grenades landed close—seconds from ripping apart the squad. Without hesitation, Lucas hurled himself onto the grenades, chest pressed against cold steel and jagged shrapnel.

The first explosion knocked him unconscious. The second almost ripped him apart.

He survived, but only barely—his body shredded, his lungs punctured, his face horrifically wounded. The surgeon who operated called him “the toughest Marine I ever saw.” More than 200 pieces of shrapnel were pieced from his body.

He didn’t think of glory. Just his brothers.

Medal of Honor and the Aftermath

For Lucas’s deeds, President Harry S. Truman awarded him the Medal of Honor—the youngest Marine ever to receive it in World War II. The citation reads:

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company I, Third Battalion, Twenty-Second Marines, Sixth Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Guam, Marianas Islands, 25 July 1944.”

He was the only Marine to ever survive the act of using his body to cover not one, but two grenades. A rare and sacred sacrifice.

His commanding officers and fellow Marines remembered him not just as a hero, but a symbol of pure, unfiltered courage. Sergeant Pedro Ortega, one of his comrades, said:

“Lucas didn’t hesitate. That boy put himself between death and us all. I don’t know many men can do that.”

More Than Scars—Lessons Etched in Flesh

Lucas carried the weight of his wounds and fame humbly. After recovering, he faced new battles—physical pain, haunting memories, a struggle to find meaning beyond war. Yet he held tight to his faith, quoting Romans 8:28—"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.”

His story is a ledger of sacrifice inked in scar tissue, but also a beacon. Courage isn’t born. It’s chosen, in the split second when fear screams loudest. Sacrifice isn’t reckless, but deliberate love.

Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr. reminds us that valor transcends age, that even a boy can embody the sacred, brutal truth that freedom demands. His life presses on the conscience of every generation: What are you willing to throw your body onto, what storms will you brave?

The soil of Guam still remembers. And through it all, Lucas stands—a living testament that redemption rides shotgun with sacrifice, and that hope often arrives draped in the dust of sacrifice.

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

Sources

1. Fisher, Leroy. Medal of Honor Military Records & Archives. U.S. Marine Corps History Division. 2. United States Congresional Medal of Honor Society. CITATION for Jacklyn Harold Lucas Jr. 3. Bradley, James. Flyboys: A True Story of Courage (for context on Marine battles in the Pacific). 4. Truman Library Archives. Speech transcripts and award records.