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Leatherneck Letter of the Month, May 2007
I met with a friend for lunch at a big hotel here in Santa Monica.
I saw two Marine sergeants in dress blues sitting with an elderly couple. I thought it was a couple of guys on recruiting duty taking one of their parents out for lunch. It’s been my habit over the last couple of years that when I see a Marine in uniform in a restaurant with a date I give the waiter my credit card and instruct him or her to charge the Marine’s check to me.
I gave the waitress my credit card. She was concerned and told me the bill was close to $100 and asked if I was sure. I said I was.
As my friend and I finished our lunch, the woman and one of the Marines came to say thanks. I said it was a small thing I could do to say thanks for Marines and what they’re doing for us.
I asked the Marine if he was on recruiting duty and he said no. He was on escort duty. He invited me to come over to his table to say hello. I went and met the other Marine, and then I was introduced to the old man at the table.
He was probably in his 80s, sitting with an oxygen tank close by and attached with tubes to his nose. He was wearing a baseball jacket with lots of patches. One of them was a USMC patch. I figured he was the dad of one of the sergeants and shook his hand. He said “So you’re the young man who bought us lunch.” He invited me to sit down and talk a bit.
Here’s what I walked into. The two Marines were escorting the old Marine. His name was Jacklyn H. Lucas. He was only 14 when he enlisted and became the youngest Marine to receive the Medal of Honor. He was 17 years old when awarded the medal. He saved the lives of other Marines by jumping on a grenade during the second day of fighting on Iwo Jima. I sat for a while and listened to Jack tell the two sergeants the story of how he was injured and how his life was saved. I could see by their ribbons that the sergeants had seen their share of action.
When I stood up to leave, Jack struggled to stand up and shake my hand. I looked at the young sergeants and said “Thank you.” I turned to Jack and said what else? “Semper Fi, Jack.”
What started out as a simple gesture turned into a good moment for the four of us: three generations of Marines sharing a handshake and a moment and a recognition to a commitment that probably not any of the four of us could fully explain, but we knew what it was and we felt it, and something about the Corps carried on in that moment.
Gerald Wil Rafferty, Ph.D.
Communication Psychologist
Santa Monica, CA
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Out of curiosity, I did a Google search on Jacklyn H Lucas, here's the info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacklyn_H._Lucas
