JACKSON, Miss. (June 5) - Jack Lucas, a North Carolina native who at 14 lied his way into military service during World War II and became the youngest Marine to receive the Medal of Honor, 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, his wife, Ruby, told The Associated Press........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................He was the youngest serviceman to receive the Medal of Honor in any conflict other than the Civil War...............
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/vet-who...05155309990001
FYI-From last week, for same action, different war:
Posthumous Medal of Honor winner, 19, was 'natural' soldier
SHIPPENVILLE, Pa. (AP) - Growing up in a small rural town, Ross McGinnis was more apt to get in trouble than on the honor roll. So he enlisted in the Army, and in just under a year, found his soulmate, a brotherhood, and even himself.
"I just cannot wait for the day when I can connect all 3 lives into one," McGinnis wrote on his MySpace page. "But that day will not be for a long time."
The 19-year-old private first class would never get that chance.
McGinnis was in the gunner's hatch of a Humvee on Dec. 4, 2006, when a grenade sailed past him and into the vehicle where four other soldiers sat. He shouted a warning, then jumped back-first on the grenade, which blew up and killed him.
On Monday, the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor, will be awarded to him posthumously........
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/posthum...31122709990009
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