Jacklyn H. Lucas
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| Jacklyn Harrell Lucas | |
|---|---|
| born February 14, 1928 | |
  Medal of Honor recipient |
|
| Nickname | Jack |
| Place of birth | Plymouth, North Carolina |
| Allegiance | USMC |
| Years of service | 1942-1945 |
| Rank | Private First Class |
| Unit | 1st Battalion 26th Marines |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Iwo Jima |
| Awards | Medal of Honor (1945) Purple Heart |
Private First Class Jacklyn Harrell Lucas (born 1928) was a United States Marine who earned the Medal of Honor during the Iwo Jima campaign for unhesitatingly hurling himself over his comrades upon one grenade and for pulling another one under himself, absorbing the whole blasting force of the explosions with his own body.
Private First Class Lucas, the youngest Marine ever to receive the United States' highest military decoration, was presented the award by President Harry S. Truman at the White House on Friday, 5 October 1945.
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[edit] Early years
Jacklyn Harrell Lucas was born in Plymouth, North Carolina on 14 February 1928. He attended high school at nearby Salemburg and was 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.
[edit] Marine Corps service
Although only 14 years of age, five feet, five and one half inches high, weighing 158 pounds, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve with his mother's consent on 6 August 1942. He gave his age as 17, and went to Parris Island, South Carolina, for recruit training.
During his rifle training Pvt Lucas qualified as a sharpshooter. He was next assigned to the Marine Barracks, U.S. Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida. In June 1943, he was transferred to the 21st Replacement Battalion at New River, North Carolina, and one month later he went to the 25th Replacement Battalion, where he successfully completed schooling which qualified him as a heavy machine gun crewman.
He left the continental United States on 4 November 1943, and the following month he joined the 6th Base Depot of the V Amphibious Corps at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He was advanced to private first class on 29 January 1944.
With statements to his buddies that he was going to join a combat organization, PFC Lucas walked out of camp on 10 January 1945, wearing a khaki uniform and carrying his dungarees and field shoes in a roll under his arm.
He was declared absent without leave (AWOL) when he failed to return that night and a month later, when there was still no sign of him, he was declared a "deserter," and a reward offered for his apprehension. He was also reduced to the rank of private at that time.
He stowed away on board the USS Deuel which was transporting units of the 5th Marine Division into combat. He surrendered to the senior troop officer present on 8 February 1945 dressed in neat, clean dungarees. He was allowed to remain, and shortly after he was transferred to Headquarters Company, 5th Marine Division. He reached his 17th birthday while at sea, six days before he earned the Medal of Honor.
On the day following the landing at Iwo Jima, he was creeping through a twisting ravine with three other men of his rifle team when the Japanese opened a hand grenade attack on them. The men jumped into two shallow foxholes. A grenade landed in Pvt Lucas' foxhole and he threw his body over it. Another one came hurtling in, and he reached out and pulled it beneath himself shortly before the explosion occurred, which lifted him off the ground and blew parts of his clothing into the air.
He was left for dead by his companions, although he was miraculously still alive. Severely wounded in the right arm and wrist, right leg and thigh, and chest, Pvt Lucas had undoubtedly saved his companions from serious injury and possible death.
He was evacuated to the hospital ship 'Samaritan', and then treated at various field hospitals prior to his arrival at San Francisco, California on 28 March 1945. He eventually underwent 21 operations. The mark of desertion was removed from his record in August of that year while he was a patient at the U.S. Naval Hospital at Charleston, South Carolina.
He was discharged from the Marine Corps Reserve because of disability resulting from his wounds on 18 September 1945, following his reappointment to the rank of private first class.
In addition to the Medal of Honor, PFC Lucas was awarded the Purple Heart; Presidential Unit Citation; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one bronze star; American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.
[edit] Medal of Honor citation
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
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text in the public domain from the United States Marine Corps.
- Private First Class Jacklyn Harrell Lucas, USMCR, Who's Who in Marine Corps History, History Division, United States Marine Corps.
- Medal of Honor citation
[edit] Further reading
- War II Medal of Honor Winner Jacklyn Lucas,The Youngest MOH Winner Since the Civil War, April 17, 2006. (URL accessed April 22, 2006)
- Jack H. Lucas with D. K. Drum. Indestructible: The Unforgetable Story of a Marine Hero at the Battle of Iwo Jima. Forward by Senator Bob Dole. Da Capo Press, 2006. (ISBN 0306814706)
