George C Morrison
member
Although not completely firearms related as his actions involved several grenades ,this great hero deserves to be remembered.
Semper fi,Jack Lucas.
WWII vet who earned Medal of Honor at 17 dies
The Associated Press
Friday, June 6, 2008
JACKSON, Miss.: Jack Lucas survived a grenade attack at Iwo Jima that left him with more than 250 pieces of shrapnel in his body, including six pieces in his brain and two in his heart.
Sixty-three years later, it was cancer that claimed the life of the man who became the Marine Corps' youngest Medal of Honor winner and a symbol of patriotism to U.S. military members around the globe.
"He told me the other day, 'This is not the way a warrior should go down,'" said Lucas' wife, Ruby. 'I told him, 'Baby, you're a warrior no matter how you go down.'"
Lucas, who at 14 lied his way into military service during World War II, 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, Ruby Lucas told The Associated Press.
He was diagnosed with a form of leukemia in April that "tore apart his body," she said. He spent his last days in the hospital with family and friends standing vigil and the military community waiting helplessly while pulling for his recovery.
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."
Gen. Robert Magnus, Marine Corps assistant commandant, called Lucas "a great warrior" who was celebrated "for a rare selfless act of valor."
"The commandant of the Marine Corps and I join Marines of all generations in sending our condolences to his wife Ruby and their family," he said.
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, and he 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.
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?"
Visitation is scheduled for Sunday evening and funeral services for Lucas will be held Monday morning on the University of Southern Mississippi campus in Hattiesburg.
Big for his age and eager to serve, a 14-year-old Lucas lied that he was 17 and forged his mother's signature on a Marines enlistment waiver. Military censors discovered his real 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." "He said if they sent him home, he would just join the Army and give the Army the benefit of his good Marine training."
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.
"They did not know his age. He didn't give it up and they didn't ask," Drum said.
Born in Plymouth, N.C., on Feb. 14, 1928, Lucas was a 13-year-old cadet captain in a military academy when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
"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."
After the war, Lucas earned a business degree from High Point University in North Carolina and raised, processed and sold beef in the Washington, D.C., area. 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. She said Lucas credited his stocky build and a last-second roll as he hit the ground for saving his life.
"He was the last one out of the airplane and the first one on the ground," Drum said.
In his final hours, the steady stream of visitors was stopped and Ruby Lucas was given a few quiet moments with her husband.
"I said, 'Jack, you know you're dying,'" Ruby Lucas said. "He just raised his head off the pillow. He said, 'I ain't dead yet.' Just as plain as day. I said, 'That's Jack Lucas. He wants to get the last word in.'"
http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=13512928
Semper fi,Jack Lucas.
WWII vet who earned Medal of Honor at 17 dies
The Associated Press
Friday, June 6, 2008
JACKSON, Miss.: Jack Lucas survived a grenade attack at Iwo Jima that left him with more than 250 pieces of shrapnel in his body, including six pieces in his brain and two in his heart.
Sixty-three years later, it was cancer that claimed the life of the man who became the Marine Corps' youngest Medal of Honor winner and a symbol of patriotism to U.S. military members around the globe.
"He told me the other day, 'This is not the way a warrior should go down,'" said Lucas' wife, Ruby. 'I told him, 'Baby, you're a warrior no matter how you go down.'"
Lucas, who at 14 lied his way into military service during World War II, 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, Ruby Lucas told The Associated Press.
He was diagnosed with a form of leukemia in April that "tore apart his body," she said. He spent his last days in the hospital with family and friends standing vigil and the military community waiting helplessly while pulling for his recovery.
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."
Gen. Robert Magnus, Marine Corps assistant commandant, called Lucas "a great warrior" who was celebrated "for a rare selfless act of valor."
"The commandant of the Marine Corps and I join Marines of all generations in sending our condolences to his wife Ruby and their family," he said.
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, and he 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.
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?"
Visitation is scheduled for Sunday evening and funeral services for Lucas will be held Monday morning on the University of Southern Mississippi campus in Hattiesburg.
Big for his age and eager to serve, a 14-year-old Lucas lied that he was 17 and forged his mother's signature on a Marines enlistment waiver. Military censors discovered his real 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." "He said if they sent him home, he would just join the Army and give the Army the benefit of his good Marine training."
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.
"They did not know his age. He didn't give it up and they didn't ask," Drum said.
Born in Plymouth, N.C., on Feb. 14, 1928, Lucas was a 13-year-old cadet captain in a military academy when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
"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."
After the war, Lucas earned a business degree from High Point University in North Carolina and raised, processed and sold beef in the Washington, D.C., area. 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. She said Lucas credited his stocky build and a last-second roll as he hit the ground for saving his life.
"He was the last one out of the airplane and the first one on the ground," Drum said.
In his final hours, the steady stream of visitors was stopped and Ruby Lucas was given a few quiet moments with her husband.
"I said, 'Jack, you know you're dying,'" Ruby Lucas said. "He just raised his head off the pillow. He said, 'I ain't dead yet.' Just as plain as day. I said, 'That's Jack Lucas. He wants to get the last word in.'"
http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=13512928
