Youngest Marine to get Medal of Honor dies

[joe_pilot]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/05/lucas.obit.ap/index.html

Thank you for serving Marine.

Semper Fi.

-JP

 

[joe_pilot]

A few excerpts:

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 he was nearly killed when one exploded.

Big for his age and eager to serve, Lucas forged his mother's signature on an enlistment waiver and joined the Marines at 14. Military censors discovered his age through a letter to his 15-year-old girlfriend.

"They had him driving a truck in Hawaii because his age was discovered, and they threatened to send him home," said D.K. Drum, who wrote Lucas' story in the 2006 book "Indestructible."

Lucas eventually stowed away aboard a Navy ship headed for combat in the Pacific Ocean. He turned himself in to avoid being listed as a deserter and volunteered to fight, and the officers on board allowed him to reach his goal of fighting the Japanese.

This says it all

"I would not settle for watching from the sidelines when the United States was in such desperate need of support from its citizens," Lucas said in "Indestructible." "Everyone was needed to do his part and I could not do mine by remaining in North Carolina."

 

[Formula 1]

Here is some more

Fighting in the Marines wasn't enough;

In the 1960s, he joined the Army and became a paratrooper, Drum said, to conquer his fear of heights. On a training jump, both of his parachutes failed.

"He was the last one out of the airplane and the first one on the ground," Drum said.

Semper Fi Devil Dog! Airborne!

 

[SIG600]

Wow, he was the guest of honor at my OCS commisioning. He handed me my certificate.

 

[jonjuan]

Wow, he was the guest of honor at my OCS commisioning. He handed me my certificate.

Holy smokes//////

 

[bagasticks]

how many 17 year olds today have this intestinal fortitude. . .

Godspeed Devil Dog!