Navy's Newest Destroyer named for the Marine Corps' Youngest Medal of Honor

[IroNat]

https://www.military.com/history/navys-newest-destroyer-named-marine-corps-youngest-medal-of-honor-recipient.html

Lucas's four-man fire team was advancing toward an airfield through a ravine on the island of Iwo Jima when they noticed one of the Japanese defenders' many hidden pillboxes. Taking cover in a trench, they exchanged small arms fire and grenades with 11 Japanese soldiers. The Japanese hurled two grenades into the Marines' trench. When Lucas saw them land in front of his comrades, he shouted, "Grenades," as he pushed a Marine out of the way and threw himself on top of one while scooping up the other.

When the first grenade exploded, it threw Lucas over onto his back and severely wounded the right side of his body, from his right arm down his chest and across his right leg. Luckily, the grenade he'd scooped up in his left hand didn't explode. He was conscious but didn't move, so his fellow Marines believed he was dead and left him to be picked up later. But Lucas didn't die, and the next Marine unit passing through the area called for a corpsman, who treated his wounds, killed an attacking Japanese soldier and carried Lucas to safety.

Lucas would undergo 26 surgeries to repair the damage from the Japanese grenade, but doctors could not remove all the metal from his body. He survived his wounds, and on Oct. 5, 1945, President Harry S. Truman presented Lucas with the Medal of Honor on the South Lawn of the White House.