10/12/2026
HE WAS ONLY 17 WHEN HE SHIELDED OTHER MARINES FROM GRENADES
Jacklyn “Jack” Lucas was born on February 14, 1928. After the United States entered World War II, he was determined to join the fight. While still only 14, he falsified his mother’s signature to enlist in the Marine Corps.
When his age was discovered, he was assigned to duties away from combat. But Lucas was determined to get to the front. He eventually stowed away aboard a transport ship heading toward Iwo Jima, where Marines were preparing for one of the Pacific War’s fiercest battles.
Lucas landed on Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945. The next day, February 20, he was moving with fellow Marines when two Japanese gr***des landed in their position.
Lucas reacted immediately. He threw himself over one gr***de and pulled the other beneath his body, attempting to protect the men beside him from the blasts.
The explosions severely wounded him. He survived, despite suffering extensive injuries and requiring a long series of operations and rehabilitation.
On October 5, 1945, President Harry S. Truman presented Lucas with the Medal of Honor. At 17, he became the youngest recipient of the Medal of Honor for service in World War II.
His story is extraordinary, but it should not make war seem glamorous. Lucas endured life-threatening injuries at an age when most people are still in school. His actions were an act of split-second courage in a situation no teenager should have had to face.
History remembers the medal. It should also remember the cost of the act—and the young life that had to recover afterward.
Jack Lucas was 17. His courage saved fellow Marines, and the wounds stayed with him long after the battle.
