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 (US Marine Corps) 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 (February 14, 1928 – June 5, 2008) was a United States Marine who later reenlisted in the United States Army and reached the Rank of Captain. He was awarded the Medal of Honor at age seventeen for heroism above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Private First Class in the Marine Corps during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.

During a close firefight in two trenches between Lucas and three Marines with eleven Japanese soldiers, Lucas saved the lives of the three Marines from two enemy hand grenades that were thrown into and 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 covered with his body 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.^[1]

Early years

Lucas was born in Plymouth, North Carolina on February 14, 1928.^[2] 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),^[3] when he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve at Norfolk, Virginia^[4] without his mother's consent^[3] 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.^[5]

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.^[5] 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.^[5]

On January 10, 1945, according to statements he made to his comrades, 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.^[5] 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 Marine Corps "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,^[6] and was assigned to Dunlap's rifle company as a rifleman. 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 who were members of a 4-man fire team from one of C Company's platoons were creeping through a twisting ravine towards or at 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.^[4] The Japanese also opened fire and threw two grenades inside the Marine's trench in front of them. Lucas spotted the grenades on the ground in front of his comrades and yelled "grenades", he then jumped over a Marine and dove for them, jamming one of them into the volcanic ash and soft sand with his rifle and covering it with his body while reaching out and pulling the other one beneath him.^[6] The first of the two grenades exploded, tossing Lucas on his back, severely wounding him in the right arm and wrist, right leg and thigh, and chest.^[4] He was still conscious and barely alive after the blast, holding in his left hand the other grenade, which did not explode.^[4] His three comrades were unharmed due to Lucas' actions, and the Japanese soldiers in their trench were all killed and the three Marines continued on away from the trench, leaving Lucas behind, having thought he was dead.^[2]

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.^[4][6] He was evacuated by stretcher-bearers to and from the beach, to an LST to a cargo ship used as a hospital (all the hospital ships were full)^[4] 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.^[7] In August, the mark of desertion was removed from his record 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,^[6] 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, and Secretary of Defense James Forrestal.^[6][7]

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 joined the U.S. Army in 1961 and served in the 82nd Airborne Division as a paratrooper to conquer his fear of heights, and survived a training jump in which neither of his two parachutes opened. He volunteered for Vietnam, but was not allowed to go there and ended his time as a captain in the army in 1965 at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, training troops for the Vietnam War.

When the keel of the USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) (christened in 2000) was laid, Lucas placed his Medal of Honor citation in the ship's hull, where it remains sealed.^[8]

On 3 August 2006, Lucas, along with fifteen 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."^[9]

Lucas died at a hospital in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on June 5, 2008 of leukemia with family and friends by his side.^[2]

On September 18, 2016, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, DDG-125, would be named in honor of Lucas.^[10]

Military awards

Lucas's military decorations and awards include:

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

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.

See also

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

Notes

References

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

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jacklyn H. Lucas.

• Medal of Honor Interviews at the National WWII Museum
• Elizabeth Reed (5 June 2008). "Jacklyn H. Lucas". Find a Grave. 
• "Jacklyn H. Lucas". Hall of Valor. Military Times.