Indestructible: The Unforgettable Memoir of a Marine Hero at the Battle of Iwo Jima

by Jack H. Lucas, D.K. Drum, Bob Dole (Foreword by)

Overview

Medal of Honor recipient Jack H. Lucas's classic memoir of his heroics at the Battle of Iwo Jima--with a foreword by Bob Dole and reissued to coincide with the 75^th anniversary of the battle in 2020.

On February 20, 1945, the second day of the assault on Iwo Jima--one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific theater in World War II--Private Jack Lucas, who was only seventeen, and three other Marines engaged in a close-proximity firefight with Japanese soldiers. When two enemy grenades landed in their trench, Lucas jumped on one and pulled the other under his body to save the lives of his comrades. Lucas was blown into the air as his body was torn apart by 250 entrance wounds. He was so severely wounded that his team left him for dead. Miraculously, he survived.

While on the hospital ship Samaritan, his spirit soared to see the American flag flying atop Mount Suribachi--the same flag immortalized in Joe Rosenthal's iconic photograph, Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. Lucas endured twenty-one grueling surgeries and carried 200 pieces of shrapnel in his body for the rest of his life. Awarded the Medal of Honor, he became the youngest Marine in U.S. history--and the youngest of all World War II servicemen--to receive the honor.

Indestructible tells the remarkable story of an extraordinary American possessed with a fierce determination to serve his country.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062979001
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/07/2020
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	648,356
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

JACKLYN "JACK" HAROLD LUCAS enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on August 6, 1942, at the age of fourteen. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division during the Battle of Iwo Jima. He received the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman on October 5, 1945. After graduating from college, he enlisted in the United States Army in 1961 and served four years in the 82nd Airborne Division. He was married to Ruby Lucas and they lived in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He passed away in 2008 at the age of 80.

Inspired by parents who were part of the "greatest generation" and a brother who received the Bronze Star in Vietnam and later succumbed to his wartime injury, D.K. DRUM collaborated with Jack Lucas to write Indestructible. She is married to thrice-decorated Vietnam veteran Tommy Drum. The price paid for freedom is an important lesson that has been forwarded on to their progeny: Jon, Laura, Isabel, Juliana, and Willa. May the torch burn brightly as it is passed to all future generations.

Bob Dole served in the U.S. Senate for twenty-seven years and was the Republican Leader for twelve years. He was the Chairman of the Republican National Committee under the Presidency of Richard Nixon, the 1976 Republican nominee for Vice President with Gerald Ford, and the 1996 Republican nominee for President. He was also the Chairman of the National World War II Memorial.

Table of Contents

Foreword Senator Bob Dole xi

Prologue 1

1 December 7, 1941 9

2 The Making Of A Warrior 23

3 Reflections 43

4 Jack The Giant-Killer 53

5 Yes, Colonel, I Am Only Fifteen 61

6 Stowaway 79

7 Red Beach Landing 101

8 God, Please Save Me 125

9 Torn And Shattered 139

10 The Fightin'est Marine 159

11 The Medal Of Honor 171

12 Fulfilling A Promise 181

13 Captain Bam Bam 195

14 The Ultimate Betrayal 207

15 Rock Bottom 219

16 Down But Not Out 229

17 Winds Of Change 241

Epilogue 251

Afterword to the William Morrow Paperback D. K. Drum 255

Index 259

Editorial Reviews

Jack Lucas exemplified with his own blood and grit the spirit of sacrifice that won the war in the Pacific. All Americans should know his story; our foes should contemplate it.” — Bob Dole

“Jack Lucas’s story is beyond compare. ... Spendidly written.” — Leatherneck (The Magazine of the Marines)

“One of the most remarkable true stories one is ever likely to read.” — WWII History

“Worth reading … The story of his recovery from his wounds and postwar life, including celebrity tours with his Medal of Honor, are told with painstaking detail, and are as fascinating as his heroic actions on Iwo Jima.”  — Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher

Jack Lucas exemplified with his own blood and grit the spirit of sacrifice that won the war in the Pacific. All Americans should know his story; our foes should contemplate it.

BOB DOLE

One of the most remarkable true stories one is ever likely to read.

WWII History

Jack Lucas’s story is beyond compare. ... Spendidly written.

Leatherneck (The Magazine of the Marines)

Jack Lucas exemplified with his own blood and grit the spirit of sacrifice that won the war in the Pacific. All Americans should know his story; our foes should contemplate it.

Bob Dole

Worth reading … The story of his recovery from his wounds and postwar life, including celebrity tours with his Medal of Honor, are told with painstaking detail, and are as fascinating as his heroic actions on Iwo Jima.” 

Wall Street Journal

Worth reading … The story of his recovery from his wounds and postwar life, including celebrity tours with his Medal of Honor, are told with painstaking detail, and are as fascinating as his heroic actions on Iwo Jima.” 

Wall Street Journal

One of the most remarkable true stories one is ever likely to read.

WWII History

2019-09-29
A World War II Marine chronicles his time in the service, culminating in the act that won him the Medal of Honor—and how that event changed his life.

Lucas, the youngest Marine to be awarded the medal, grew up in North Carolina; an unruly farm boy, he was sent to a military school when his mother remarried. The school brought out the best in him, believing as he did in honor and duty. When news of Pearl Harbor arrived, he wanted to enlist and fight the Japanese immediately. But at 14 years old, he was too young. In what became a pattern for his Marine career, he persuaded his stepfather to lie about his age and was soon in basic camp. Sent to a stateside assignment, he went AWOL to get to Hawaii, then stowed away on a troopship bound for Iwo Jima, where, on his second day of combat, he threw himself on two grenades to save the other members of his squad—and lived. His post-service career was in general considerably less exciting, other than a murder plot against him. Lucas comes across as a highly patriotic man who was a serious hell-raiser, especially in his youth. It is the story that carries readers through rather than the quality of the writing. Considering that he spent only two days in combat, the author's escapades before he ever got to Iwo Jima, as well as his various stratagems to get himself into the combat zone, carry the bulk of the interest. There is very little on the battle that readers casually familiar with the war in the Pacific don't already know, and one suspects that Drum had a good deal to do with getting the memoir into publishable shape. Still, if you were sitting in a bar with a veteran recounting these stories, you would almost certainly stay to hear them—and buy the teller a drink or two to keep them coming.

Colorful war stories told by a man whose patriotism and heroism are sufficient to command our respectful attention.

Kirkus Reviews