26. The Teen Marine
Jacklyn Harrell “Jack” Lucas (1928 – 2008) was desperate to join the action during WWII. So when still a child, he lied about his age and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He went on to become the youngest Marine ever to receive a Medal of Honor – the country’s highest award for valor. Lucas earned it for heroic conduct at age seventeen, when he saved the lives of fellow Marines during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Lucas was born in Plymouth, North Carolina. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, he was a thirteen-year-old cadet captain in a military academy, and captain of the school’s football team. Eager to serve, Lucas forged his mother’s signature when he was fourteen, writing it on a form that granted permission for her “17-year-old” son to enlist. It got him into the Marine Corps Reserves.