Jacklyn H. Lucas

Who was Jacklyn H. Lucas?

Private First Class Jacklyn Harold Lucas was a United States Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during the Iwo Jima campaign — for unhesitatingly hurling himself over his comrades upon one grenade and for pulling another one under himself. One of the grenades exploded, and Lucas absorbed the entire blasting force of it with his own body. Private First Class Lucas, the youngest Marine ever to receive the United States' highest military decoration, survived and was presented the award by President Harry S. Truman at the White House on Friday, 5 October 1945.