HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Marine Forces Reserve leathernecks said goodbye to one of their own, joining military, civic and veterans groups in honoring the youngest recipient of the Medal of Honor in Marine Corps history here June 9.
Jacklyn Harold “Jack” Lucas, who passed away June 5 following a struggle with cancer, was laid to rest at Highland Cemetery in his adopted hometown. Support provided by MFR included pall bearers, a ceremonial firing detail and two buglers to perform echo taps.
Prior to internment, more than 500 people gathered at the Lake Terrace Convention Center for a service to remember the man so eager to serve in the Marine Corps that he forged his mother’s signature in order to enlist at the age of 14.
According to a biographical account, Lucas landed on Iwo Jima as a member of the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division, just five days after his 17th birthday. On D-plus one, Lucas and three other Marines were ambushed by an enemy patrol. During the close combat, two enemy hand grenades landed in front of the three Marines. Lucas threw himself on the first grenade and pulled the other under him, absorbing the brunt of the blast. He was presented the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman on Oct. 5, 1945.
Warm tales were told by those who crossed paths with Lucas, from military comrades to those who recently became acquainted.
“He was a down to Earth person … not conceited or stuck up, and we all enjoyed having him in our presence,” said 79-year-old Charlie D. Jones, an Army veteran and fellow member of the local Scottish Rite. “He was proud of who he was and what he’d accomplished during his lifetime.”
Jerry Strickland, a former member of the Marine Corps Reserve, established a year-long friendship with Lucas after seeing his memoir “Indestructible: The Unforgettable Story of a Marine Hero at the Battle of Iwo Jima” in a local bookstore. He described Lucas as patriotic, independent and very humorous.
“Jack Lucas had one of the funniest senses of humor that I’ve ever seen in my life,” said the social worker from Gulfport, Miss. Strickland went on to explain that as time passed, he felt that Lucas’s story needed to reach a wider audience and offered to help sell copies of the book. “He was also an incredibly patriotic man who had a lot of insight into people … he was the kind of person that everybody liked”
“He was a grateful American who loved life and cut a wide swath,” recounted the Honorable H.C. "Barney" Barnum Jr., deputy assistant secretary of the Navy
(Reserve Affairs) and fellow member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Barnum fondly recalled hearing tales of Lucas’s exploits during a Marine Corps career that spanned more than 27 years.
In the years after receiving the Medal of Honor for his actions in Vietnam on December 18, 1965, Barnum was able to meet Lucas, and foster a relationship over the next forty-two years.
When asked what advice he thought Lucas would have to offer young Marines of today, Barnum was quick to respond. “Work hard, take care of the Marine on your left and your right, keep up the Marine Corps traditions and don’t ever do anything to discredit or embarrass the United States Marine Corps.”