One hero’s story

I got this email a little while ago;

Sorry to send this sad note that Marine PFC. Jack Lucas, USMC is in the hospital with cancer. He is 80 years old.

PFC Lucas is the youngest ever recipient of the Medal of Honor. At 17 years old, he earned the Medal on Iwo Jima in February 1945. Imagine what a Marine had to do, amongst all those many heroes, to earn “The Medal.”

There is a web site, http:/www.forrestgeneral.com go to “e-mail a patient” and they ask for your name, phone number, and e-mail address. It also requires his room number. It is room 4421 This is probably to weed out the whackos. It would be great and very easy, easy to send the Marine Corps hero a note.

Semper Fidelis,

XXX XXX, Retired Marine

Well, it piqued my curiosity. What does one Marine do to stand out from among the thousands of Marines on Iwo Jima? Luckily, PFC Lucas was never shy about telling his story. From the Quantico Sentry, the amazing story of a fourteen year old who lied about his age to become a Marine;

“When I heard the news of the attacks on Pearl Harbor, a cold chill ran down me. To think that something like that could happen to my country,” Lucas could not describe his feelings as he pictured the day from 65 years ago as if it were yesterday. ‘‘I became obsessed. As of that day, I was going to fight for my country. I wasn’t really thinking about age requirements and that wasn’t going to stop me.”

Despite his mother’s disproval, he forged his consent papers and had his stepfather lie for him so he could become a Marine.

[…]

Lucas was working at Pearl Harbor at age 17 when Marine units were loading ships to head to the front lines. So determined to fight, he stowed away on one of the ships and was on his way to the forward edge of the battle field. He told a whole story explaining how he survived aboard the ship without being discovered, but he turned himself in after 29 days at sea to avoid being declared a deserter.

The National World War II Museum quotes his Medal of Honor Citation;

Jack Lucas received the Medal of Honor “For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima… While creeping through a treacherous, twisting ravine which ran in close proximity to a fluid and uncertain frontline on D-plus-1 day, Pfc. 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, Pfc. Lucas unhesitatingly hurled himself over his comrades upon one grenade and pulled the other under him, absorbing the whole blasting forces 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 Pfc. Lucas and the U.S. Naval Service. “

MSNBC described his injuries;

Lucas suffered more than 200 wounds from head-to-toe and was saved by dozens of surgeries. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic action at the age of 17, the youngest recipient of that honor since the Civil War.

He is one of 27 American soldiers who were awarded the Medal of Honor during 45 days of fighting on Iwo Jima.

Wikipedia has a little bit more of his life after saving his comrades;

He was evacuated to the hospital ship Samaritan, and then treated at various field hospitals prior to his arrival in San Francisco, California on 28 March 1945. He eventually underwent 21 surgeries. To this day, there are still about 200 pieces of metal, some the size of 22 caliber bullets, still left in Lucas — which set off airport medal detectors.[2]

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.

I’m richer because I took the time to know Jacklyn Harrell Lucas. Take a moment to send him an email at the hospital link above in the quoted email

Category: Historical, Support the troops