Jacklyn H. Lucas

Jacklyn Harold Lucas
Nickname(s)	Jack
Born	(1928-02-14)February 14, 1928 Plymouth, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	June 5, 2008(2008-06-05) (aged 80) Forrest General Hospital Hattiesburg, Mississippi, U.S.
Allegiance	United States of America
Service / branch	United States Marine Corps United States Army
Years of service	1942–1945 (U.S. Marine Corps) 1961–1965 (U.S. Army)
Rank	Private first class (U.S. Marines) Captain (U.S. Army)
Unit	1st Battalion 26th Marine Regiment 5th Marine Division 82nd Airborne Division
Battles / wars	World War II Battle of Iwo Jima
Awards	Medal of Honor Purple Heart Medal

Jacklyn Harold "Jack" Lucas (14 February 1928 – 5 June 2008) was a United States Army captain who was awarded the Medal of Honor at age seventeen for heroism above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Marine Corps private first class during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.

During a close firefight in two trenches with eleven Japanese soldiers, Lucas saved the lives of the three Marines with and near him from two enemy hand grenades lying in their trench by unhesitatingly placing himself on one grenade, while in the next instant pulling the other grenade under him. The grenade he first jammed into the black ash and soft sand with his rifle and covered, exploded, and wounded him only; the other grenade did not explode. He is the youngest Marine and the youngest serviceman in World War II to be awarded the United States' highest military decoration for valor.

Early years

Lucas was born in Plymouth, North Carolina on 14 February 1928. After his father, a tobacco farmer, died when he was ten, his mother sent him to nearby Edwards Military Institute in Salemburg. He rose to be a cadet captain, and was the captain of the football team. He was an all-around sportsman, also taking part in baseball, softball, basketball, boxing, wrestling, horseback riding, trap and skeet shooting, and hunting.

U.S. Marine Corps Reserve

World War II

Lucas was only 14 years of age, having a muscular build, 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) tall and weighing 180 pounds (82 kg), when he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve at Norfolk, Virginia without his mother's consent on August 8, 1942. He gave his age as seventeen and forged his mother's name, and was sent to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina for recruit training. During his rifle qualification, he qualified as a sharpshooter.

He was next assigned to the Marine Barracks at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida. In June 1943, he was transferred to the 21st Replacement Battalion at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, and one month later he went to the 25th Replacement Battalion, and successfully completed schooling at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina which qualified him as a heavy machine gun crewman. He was next sent by train to San Diego with his unit. He left the continental United States on November 4, 1943, and the following month he joined the 6th Base Depot of the V Amphibious Corps at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. On January 29, 1944, he was promoted to private first class.

On January 10, 1945, according to statements he made to his buddies, Lucas walked out of camp to join a combat organization wearing a khaki uniform and carrying his dungarees and field shoes in a roll under his arm. He was declared UA (Unauthorized Absence) when he failed to return that night and a month later he was reduced to the rank of private. He stowed away on board the USS Deuel which was transporting the 1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment of the 5th Marine Division to Iwo Jima. On February 8, the day before he would have been placed on the "deserter list", he turned himself in to Marine Captain Robert Dunlap, Commanding Officer of C Company. He was taken by Captain Dunlap to the battalion's commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Pollock, and was assigned to Dunlap's rifle company. On February 14, Lucas reached his seventeenth birthday while at sea five days before the invasion of Iwo Jima began.

On February 19, Lucas made the 5th Division's landing on Iwo Jima with C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines. On February 20, Lucas and three Marines of a 4-man fire team from the platoon of C Company he was assigned to, were creeping through a twisting ravine at or towards an enemy airstrip when they spotted an enemy pillbox and got into a trench for cover. They then spotted eleven Japanese soldiers in a parallel trench (they had a tunnel to there from the pill box) and opened up on them with rifle fire. The Japanese also opened fire and threw two grenades inside the Marine's trench in front of them. Lucas spotted the grenades and yelled "grenades", he then jumped over a Marine and dove for the grenades jamming one of the grenades into the volcanic ash with his rifle and then covering the grenade with his body while reaching out and pulling the other grenade beneath him. The first grenade he covered up exploded tossing Lucas on his back severely wounded in the right arm and wrist, right leg and thigh, and chest. He was still conscious and still holding the other grenade which did not explode in his left hand. His three comrades were unharmed due Lucas having took all of the blast. The Japanese soldiers in their trench were all killed and the three Marines continued on having thought Lucas was killed in the blast.

Lucas was found by Marines from another unit passing by who called for a navy corpsmen that attended to his wounds and protected him with a carbine from being shot and killed by another Japanese soldier in the trench, and was evacuated by stretcher-bearers to and from the beach, to an LST and cargo ship used as a hospital (all the hospital ships were full) and then to the hospital ship Samaritan. He was treated at various field hospitals prior to his arrival in San Francisco, California on March 28, 1945. He eventually underwent 21 surgeries. For the rest of his life, there remained about 200 pieces of metal, some the size of 22 caliber bullets, in Lucas' body — which set off airport metal detectors. In August, the mark of desertion was removed from his reccord while he was a patient at the U.S. Naval Hospital at Charleston, South Carolina. On September 18, he was discharged from the Marine Corps Reserve because of disability resulting from his wounds following his reappointment to the rank of private first class.

On 5 October 1945, Lucas, three sailors, and ten other Marines including Robert Dunlap his former company commanding officer on Iwo Jima, were presented the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. Those in attendance at the ceremony included Lucas's mother and brother, Admiral Chester Nimitz, Secretary of Defense James Forrestal.

Later life

Lucas receives his Medal of Honor Flag from CMC Gen. Hagee on August 3, 2006.

Lucas earned a business degree from High Point University and was initiated into the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity (Delta Omega Chapter). He served in the 82nd Airborne Division from 1961 to 1965 as a paratrooper to conquer his fear of heights and survived a training jump in which both of his parachutes did not open. He was not allowed to go to Vietnam and ended his time in the army training troops for Vietnam at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. When the keel of the USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) was laid, Lucas placed his Medal of Honor citation in the ship's hull, where it remains sealed.

On 3 August 2006, Lucas, along with fiveteen living Marine Medal of Honor recipients, was presented the Medal of Honor flag by Commandant of the Marine Corps General Michael Hagee. The presentation took place at the Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C. in front of over 1,000 people, including family, friends, and Marines. Lucas said of the ceremony, "To have these young men here in our presence — it just rejuvenates this old heart of mine. I love the Corps even more knowing that my country is defended by such fine young people."

Lucas died at a hospital in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on June 5, 2008 of leukemia with family and friends by his side.

Military awards

Lucas's military decorations and awards include:

		File:NavyPres.gif

Medal of Honor	Purple Heart Medal	Presidential Unit Citation
American Campaign Medal	Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one 3⁄16" bronze star	World War II Victory Medal

Medal of Honor citation

Lucas's Medal of Citation reads:

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS JACKLYN H. LUCAS
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE

for service as set forth in the following

CITATION:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the First Battalion, Twenty-sixth Marines, Fifth Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands 20 February 1945. While creeping through a treacherous, twisting ravine which ran in close proximity to a fluid and uncertain front line on D-plus+1 Day, Private First Class Lucas and three other men were suddenly ambushed by a hostile patrol which savagely attacked with rifle fire and grenades. Quick to act when the lives of the small group were endangered by two grenades which landed directly in front of them, Private First Class Lucas unhesitatingly hurled himself over his comrades upon one grenade and pulled the other one under him, absorbing the whole blasting force of the explosions in his own body in order to shield his companions from the concussion and murderous flying fragments. By his inspiring action and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice, he not only protected his comrades from certain injury or possible death, but also enabled them to rout the Japanese patrol and continue the advance. His exceptionally courageous initiative and loyalty reflect the highest credit upon Private First Class Lucas and the United States Naval Service.

/S/ HARRY S. TRUMAN

See also

• List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II
• List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Battle of Iwo Jima

References

• Lucas, Jack H.; D. K. Drum (2006). Indestructible: The Unforgettable Story of a Marine Hero at the Battle of Iwo Jima. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81470-6. OCLC 68175700.
• Lucas, Jack (11 November 2006). "Medal of Honor Series" (Interview). Interviewed by Ed Tracy. Pritzker Military Museum & Library. Retrieved 2014-08-28. {{cite interview}}: Unknown parameter |city= ignored (|location= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help)
• Standring, William (Summer 1996). "The Story of Jack Lucas" (PDF). Marine Corps Magazine.
• United States Marine Corps. "Medal of Honor — PFC Jacklyn H. Lucas (Medal of Honor citation)". Marines Awarded the Medal of Honor. Archived from the original on 2007-01-02.
• United States Marine Corps, History Division. "Private First Class Jacklyn Harrell Lucas, USMCR". Who's Who in Marine Corps History. History Division, United States Marine Corps. Retrieved 2007-10-26.

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.

External links

• Medal of Honor Interviews at the National WWII Museum