Jack Lucas, 80; World War II vet earned Medal of Honor at 17
JACKSON, Miss. -- Jack Lucas, who at 14 lied his way into military service during World War II and became the youngest Marine to receive the Medal of Honor, died Thursday in a Hattiesburg, Miss., hospital. He was 80.
Lucas had been battling cancer and died shortly after midnight after he requested doctors remove a dialysis machine, his wife, Ruby, told The Associated Press.
Jacklyn "Jack" Lucas was just six days past his 17th birthday in February 1945 when his heroism at Iwo Jima earned him the nation's highest military honor. He used his body to shield three fellow squad members from two grenades, and was nearly killed when one exploded.
"A couple of grenades rolled into the trench," Lucas said in an Associated Press interview shortly before he received the medal from President Truman in October 1945. "I hollered to my pals to get out and did a Superman dive at the grenades. I wasn't a Superman after I got hit. I let out one helluva scream when that thing went off."
Lucas was left with more than 250 pieces of shrapnel in his body and every major organ, including six pieces in his brain and two in his heart, and endured 26 surgeries in the following months. He often showed the curious his arms, which were speckled with grenade fragments that could be seen just under the surface of his skin.
He was the youngest serviceman to receive the Medal of Honor in any conflict other than the Civil War.
"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," the Medal of Honor citation said.
In the AP interview, written as a first-person account under his name, he recalled the months he spent in a hospital.
"Soon as I rest up, I imagine I'll run for president," the story concluded. "Ain't I the hero, though?"
Lucas became a symbol of patriotism in the decades after the war, meeting presidents and traveling the world to speak with frontline soldiers and fellow veterans.
Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Will Price was shaken by the news of Lucas' death. Price remembered the response to a rousing speech Lucas gave at Marine Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C.
"I never met anyone like Jack Lucas," he said. "When he came the Marines just crowded around him. He's the epitome of the values of the Corps. They were just captivated by him. Everything that came out of his mouth was pure gold and pure motivation."
