[Annotator's Note: This clip starts mid-conversation. Jacklyn Lucas is saying that he had skin taken from his butt and put on his chest in a skin graft. He tells people today that he does not know whether he is coming or going.] Jacklyn H. Lucas was born in Plymouth, North Carolina in February 1928. He grew up on a farm. His grandfather owned a dairy farm and his father was a farmer. His life was fairly decent during the Great Depression. They did not have much, but they ate well. In 1939, his father died of cancer. Lucas was 11 and he was devastated. He became a rather raunchy young man. He resented not having a father. He became unmanageable and his mother put him in military school. He attended that school until 7 December 1941 [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], another crucial day in his life. He was devastated by the loss of so many. A cold chill ran down his spine when he heard about it on the radio. His parents taught him patriotism. He attend events regarding World War 1. He became obsessed with wanting to go fight for his country. He wanted to kill Japanese. He did not dislike them for any reason other than they had killed Americans. They were going to kill his mother. His obsession then was to go and join the Marine Corps.

Jacklyn Lucas's uncle had been a Marine. He finished his eighth grade of school in June 1942. He overwhelmed his mother with threats that he would not study or do anything. If she would let him join the Marine Corps, he would come back after the war and finish his school. He did that, including college. He knew he would keep his promise to his mother, but she would not lie for him. He lied and said he was 17 years old when he was only 14. He forged her signature and got it notarized. He joined the Marine Corps and went to Parris Island, South Carolina [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Recruit Depot Rarris Island, Port Royal, South Carolina] for basic training. He had already had three years of military school, so he stood out. He was asked to drill the platoon. Nobody knew he was only 14. He had a good time at boot camp. He was very proud to graduate. He went to Green Cove Springs, Florida as a guard for the US Naval Aviation base there. He then then went to Camp Lejeune [Annotator's Note: Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Jacksonville, North Carolina] for machine gun training. It was conducted at nearby Camp Geiger. He did well there. He and nine others were selected to stay for older troops being sent out from the 21st Replacement Battalion. They were going to the West Coast. Lucas did not believe in regulations, so he stowed away on the train and went to Linda Vista, California [Annotator's Note: Camp Linda Vista, San Diego, California]. He did not want to train machine gunners. His sole purpose for joining the Marines was to go kill Japanese. He had turned 15 years old.

[Annotator's Note: Jacklyn Lucas stowed away on a troop train from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina to Camp Linda Vista, California.] Lucas was not on the roll, so he told them they must have lost his records. He got away with it. They were shipped to the Hawaiian Islands for more training at Camp Catlin [Annotator's Note: Oahu, Hawaii]. He was held back when the unit was shipped out to Tarawa [Annotator's Note: Battle of Tarawa, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, 20 to 23 November 1943]. His Colonel told him they had found out he was only 15 from a letter he sent to his girlfriend. He told him he would be discharged from the Marines. He told them that was fine, he would just go join the Army. He told him of the promise he had to his mother to return and continue his education. Lucas was then assigned to drive a truck for supply [Annotator's Note: 6th Base Depot, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. Months passed. He could see fellows that got into trouble would be sent to combat. He proceeded to go on 17 liberties [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time], get into 17 fights and get locked up 17 times. It did not work for him. He changed his plan. Ships were coming into Pearl Harbor with Marines from the 4th and 5th Divisions [Annotator's Note: 4th Marine Division and 5th Marine Division]. Lucas went on liberty, got on a Higgins boat [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP], took it to a ship [Annotator's Note: USS Deuel (APA-160)] and stayed there. Of all of the ships he could have picked, this one had his first cousin aboard. They reunited and he told his cousin of his plan. He had heard the reasons for the ships gathering via Tokyo Rose [Annotator's Note: nickname given by Allied servicemen to any English speaking female radio personality broadcasting Japanese propaganda in the Pacific Theater] on the radio. He boarded on 9 January [Annotator's Note: 9 January 1945] and the ship left the next day for Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan].

[Annotator's Note: Jacklyn Lucas stowed away aboard the USS Deuel (APA-160) on 10 January 1945 for the trip from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to Iwo Jima, Japan.] Lucas had to figure out how to get food while on board. He had no unit to eat with but noticed that the guards got to eat before going on duty. After a while, a lot of them saw him going on guard duty a lot and figured it out. He did that for 29 days. Someone told him he should turn himself in because at 30 days he would be classified as a deserter. A Captain [Annotator's Note: later US Marine Corps Major Robert Hugo Dunlap] told him he was creating a lot of trouble for him, but he sure would like to have a boatload of people who wanted to fight as badly as he did. He asked to be assigned to the same squad as his first cousin. On Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan], they were close to one another the whole time. As they approached Iwo Jima, Lucas was on guard duty. When he got off guard duty, the troops had been fed with steak, eggs, and a shot of brandy. The steaks were gone, but he got eggs. The island looked like a lighted city due to the shelling and bombing. They boarded the Higgins boats [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP] and waited offshore. The first three or four waves went in without a lot of shelling. The beach was small. By the time Lucas's wave went in, they [Annotator's Note: the Japanese artillery] cut loose on them [Annotator's Note: the Marines]. The driver of the Higgins boat dumped them too far out and Lucas thought he was going to drown. They lost 5,320 men the first two days from being caught on that beach. How anybody ever survived getting off that beach is beyond him.

They [Annotator’s Note: Jacklyn Lucas and his fellow Marines of Company C, 1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division] fought across the island [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan] the first day. The 28th Regiment [Annotator's Note: 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division] had to take Mount Suribachi. The 27th and 26th Regiments [Annotator's Note: 27th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division and 26th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division] fought across the neck of the island. The First Sergeant sent Lucas and another man down to get a machine gun from the beach. They had to get through the shell fire again, but they did it. Lucas was in heaven. His first kill was a good feeling. He was apprehensive of being torn up. He barely knew his fire team. He learned their names after the war. He knew the leader's name was Gilbert. They called the BAR [Annotator's Note: Browning Automatic Rifle] man, "Arkansas". He knew where they were from, but was not intimate. For a Marine, it does not matter who you are or where you are from, you are brothers who look after one another. You cannot complete a mission without that. The first night was a lot of shelling. They stayed in their holes so not to get shot by their own men. The Japanese were trying to rattle them. The next morning, they moved out. He saw the most horrifying sight. A unit was being hit by Japanese mortar fire and they were being slaughtered. They had to keep moving [Annotator's Note: The interviewer pauses the interview to change tapes.] They saw more Japanese the second day than the first day. [Annotator's Note: There is another interruption.] Most of the wounded on the first day were due to mortar and artillery fire. His unit encountered a lot of Japanese in defense of the airstrip they were nearing.

[Annotator's Note: Jacklyn Lucas served in the Marine Corps in Company C, 1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division took part in the Battle of Iwo Jima, Japan.] Japanese pillboxes had escape trenches underground. The trenches were 20 feet long and parallel to each other and about four feet apart. At the end were holes to allow them to go in or out. They had six miles of underground tunnels there. There was no front line. His unit blew a pillbox and had a tank [Annotator's Note: Sherman M4A3R3 with flamethrower] come out and blow fire into it. Lucas took refuge in a trench. The group leader jumped into the next trench right onto a Japanese soldier. He jumped back over and then the Japanese stood up. Later, Lucas learned there were 11 of them. They were too close to shoulder their weapons. Lucas's rifle jammed. It was a blessing in disguise, because grenades had landed there, and no one had seen them. When Lucas looked down to unjam his rifle, he saw the grenades and dove for them. He jammed at one with his rifle and grabbed another and pulled it under him in the ash. The one in his hand did not explode. The other one blew him on his back, but he was not knocked out. Dying was not given a thought. In battle, you do what you have to do to complete a mission. They were there for one thing and that was to take the island. Over 5,300 men had already died and been wounded. You are not by yourself in sacrifices being made. He remembers the blast. It perforated his right lung and he has problems still. [Annotator's Note: Lucas was going to go get care after this interview ended.] It was worth it. Those three men are still alive today and have families. God fixed it so that he survived that battle. If he had been knocked out, he would have drowned in his own blood. He still does not know how he survived the blood loss. His men continued fighting. They thought he was dead. They returned later to check on him. He could only move some fingers on his left hand to show he was alive.

Jacklyn Lucas was just asking God to save him [Annotator's Note: after being wounded by the hand grenade he jumped on to protect his fellow Marines on Iwo Jima, Japan]. He did not think about his momma or home. He has been blessed ever since. Lucas was in the paratroopers later and even had an accident where he was not hurt. His biggest problem was breathing. He thought he was going to suffocate. The corpsman gave him morphine. Lucas owes his life to that corpsman. The corpsman shot a Japanese who was preparing to throw another grenade at them. Lucas later found out that corpsman died in battle two days later. He was put on a stretcher and while being carried back one of bearers fell and they dropped him. His head was split open on a rock. He got more care later where he got penicillin, a shot of brandy, and a tube down his throat. They covered him with a poncho, and he thought he died and did not know it. He passed out. Later that night he was taken out to an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank]. It was devastating to see the hundreds and hundreds of Marines there who were wounded. Lucas went to Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands] for several surgeries. He had more surgeries in San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California] before going by train to South Carolina for more. He had skin grafts. He was discharged from the hospital on 2 September [Annotator's Note: 2 September 1945]. He went to a casualty barracks to be discharged on 18 September. He knew he had been recommended for a medal. Nobody said anything about it at discharge, so he went home to see his girlfriend in Plymouth, North Carolina.

Jacklyn Lucas got a call from the President of the United States, Harry Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States], who asked him to Washington, D.C. to receive the Medal of Honor [Annotator's Note: the Medal of Honor is the highest award a United States service member can receive who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor] on 5 October [Annotator's Note: 5 October 1945]. He was bursting with joy. He received his medal along with Pappy Boyington [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Colonel Gregory "Pappy" Boyington] and Major Louis Wilson [Annotator's Note: then US Marine Corps Captain, later General, Louis Hugh Wilson, Jr.]. The President told Lucas he would rather have the medal than be the President of the United States. Lucas offered to swap. It was the beginning of a great period of joy and exhilaration for Lucas. That day was Nimitz Day [Annotator's Note: 5 October 1945] with great parades. Nimitz [Annotator's Note: US Navy Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Sr., Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet] took Lucas to New York City [Annotator's Note: New York, New York] for big parades there. Mayor La Guardia [Annotator's Note: Fiorello Henry La Guardia] met them at the airport. Lucas got equal billing with Admiral Nimitz. Girls were trying to pull him out of the car and kiss him. He went to the Waldorf-Astoria for a big banquet on the roof. He started dancing with an escort. He was only 17 years old. He did not know what was proper or not. Nimitz gave Lucas a silver duplicate of the medal Nimitz received that day. He enjoyed life and had a good time. The good times did not cease, but he refocused on his promise to his mother about going back to school and he returned to the ninth grade. He had his own car. People had been sending him money after he was decorated. He had the girls in high school flocking over him. He loved it and had a good time. He finished high school in an accelerated course. He went to college for two years. He met a woman he married and quit school. He got furniture, jewelry, and more from people. He decided to go back to college and complete his degree. He now had a son who was on stage with him when he got his degree.

Jacklyn Lucas goes around the country on speaking tours. He wears his medal [Annotator's Note: the Medal of Honor; the highest award a United States service member can receive who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor], not only for himself, but for the others who died. The ones who cannot be here to accept accolades or be on camera. They gave up all of their tomorrows for his today. His medal is worn not only for what he did, but for what they did in sacrificing their lives. He feels that many young people today can understand it if they think about it. Conditions do not warrant them to think about it. He speaks to school children to remind them of the sacrifice of World War 2. Lucas tries to open their eyes to the reality of the price of peace. The first obligation of citizens is to stand up for their country. We cannot allow any dictator to come and take away our freedoms and our rights. Terrorists today want to take away that we can be anything we want to here. He wears his medal to remind people of that. He wants young people to not only be good citizens, but productive citizens. His talks with service people, depends on who he is talking to. For current, young members, he likes to give them accolades for the great service they are doing.

Jacklyn Lucas returned to Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Iwo Jima, Japan] in 1985. He has been back there three times and on each one it tried to kill him. The first was in the invasion [Annotator's Note: Battle of Iwo Jima, 19 February to 26 March 1945], the second, in 1985, he took news people down into the tunnels. He had never been in them before. They kept going lower and lower. He knew there was more than one entrance. It was hot down there and it was about 12 in the crew. He thought he got lost and kept going different directions. They found a little bit of light and they crawled out of a hole that was overgrown. They had to struggle to get out. They were all very dirty. Lucas had picked up something in the tunnel that affected his damaged lung. He was put on a plane to Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] and was in intensive care for eight days. He went again to film "The Price for Peace" [Annotator's Note: 2002 documentary directed by James Moll]. He got dehydrated and sick. He went to a hospital on Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands]. He thinks he will not return to Iwo Jima anymore. Back in 1945 when he landed on the beach, it was warm. There was so much gunpowder floating it was like a fog. The smell of death was everywhere. The sight of so many men blown to pieces was hard.

If Jacklyn Lucas's father had been alive, he would not have allowed him to go off to the service because he could handle him. His mother could not. He would have seen that he completed high school. Lucas does not know what he would have become. Most of his family prospered and did well in life. He presumes he would have too. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Lucas what he thinks about being called a hero.] There are many connotations for heroes. Baseball players are called heroes and icons. The word is decimated by hanging it onto so many people. A hero is somebody who has done something to save another life or do something for the country. A person who rushes into a burning building to save a child is a hero. A person with a natural ability to be a good athlete is not a hero. The greatest heroes are the ones on the battlefield, like a corpsman running under to fire to save a life. Under danger of losing their own life. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Lucas about how long it took from seeing a grenade on the ground to diving on it to save his fellow soldiers.] Four seconds is the maximum time from the time a grenade is thrown, and it explodes. It could not have been more than two seconds. The Medal of Honor [Annotator's Note: the Medal of Honor is the highest award a United States service member can receive who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor] recipients are a special group. The Medal of Honor Society binds them together in a brotherhood.

Jacklyn Lucas's wallet is on display at the D-Day Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana]. Some of the things that he had taken off a dead Japanese soldier were in his backpack. His wallet was in there as well. It had a note in it that said to forward it to his mom in the event of his death. His pack was blown off of him and stayed in the hole. The Marines go back and clear the battlefield and put the items in a warehouse. In 1950, Lucas was at Duke University [Annotator's Note: Durham, North Carolina] when he got a letter from the Marine Corps with a check for the amount of money that was in his wallet. They were also sending him the things back. Some young man had the integrity to not take his money. After the war and college, Lucas owned a restaurant and did other business ventures. He decided he wanted to serve his country again as a paratrooper. About the only thing he was scared of was heights, so he went and joined the Army to conquer that [Annotator's Note: in 1961]. He became a captain in the paratroopers of the 187th Battle Group [Annotator's Note: 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division] at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He did that for five years then he got a medical discharge due to trouble with his lung. He found out his fear of heights was the least of many. Many of the men had to overcome their fears to jump. That is courage. One night, Lucas jumped, and his chute did not open. He pulled his reserve chute, but it tangled up. He told himself to hang loose. He hit the ground and did not break a bone after dropping 1,200 feet. He thanked the Lord one more time.

Jacklyn Lucas likes the life he is living. He liked being in the military. He has done well for himself and has a good wife and a good life. He spent a tour on the USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) where he was made a plank owner and his story was placed in the mast of the ship. He is so proud and happy to have been born an American. You can go in any occupation you want to. You can go to any length you want to go to with your talent. He enjoys being American. It is a great country and a great people. [Annotator's Note: The crew does some technical work with different camera positions.]

[Annotator's Note: The film crew does some technical work with different camera positions and the audio picks up mid sentence.] Jacklyn Lucas did not have close attachments other than his cousin. His cousin was wounded about the 16th day [Annotator's Note: the 16th day of the Battle of Iwo Jima, Japan]. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks how he felt being wounded and taken out of battle so early.] Lucas was torn up by the fact that he did not get to kill more [Annotator's Note: Japanese] but he was satisfied with those he did kill and with his actions that saved the lives of his men. He does not want to run over there and still kill Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese], but he does not like them or trust them. They did horrible things in World War 2. They raped women in Nanking [Annotator's Note: Nanjing Massacre, 13 December 1937 to January 1938, China] and threw babies up in the air and caught them on bayonets. You do not see American soldiers doing that. We are a different breed of people. They wanted to die for their Emperor, and we wanted to die for our freedom. For others to live, we sacrificed our lives. It is a lot of people to go down and lose. They are not the only ones who suffered; there are the parents, brothers, or sisters. Young men who died on the battlefield lost all possibility of achieving a dream. Lucas has never once forgotten those who died for this country. [Annotator's Note: The clip proceeds with more footage being shot without audio.]

[Annotator's Note: This clip starts with more footage being shot without audio, except for sporadic background talking. Images of the ship Jacklyn Lucas stowed away aboard, the USS Deuel (APA-160), are included. There is a lot of conversation occurring between various off-screen people, including Lucas.]