Deaths elsewhere

Jack Lucas, who forged his mother's signature so he could join the military at 14 during World War II and who became the youngest Marine to receive the Medal of Honor, has died. He was 80. Lucas, who was diagnosed with leukemia in April, died Thursday in Hattiesburg, Miss., after asking to be removed from a dialysis machine. Three years after joining the Marines, Lucas was stationed at a supply depot in Hawaii when he stowed away on a ship headed to Iwo Jima because he was afraid he would never see combat, he later recalled. On Feb. 20, 1945 -- six days after he turned 17 -- Lucas was fighting Japanese soldiers in a trench during the Battle of Iwo Jima when he dove on top of two grenades and pushed them deep into the beach's volcanic ash to shield three other Marines from harm. "I didn't think. I just immediately reacted and did what I had to do," Lucas told USA Today last year. After one of the grenades exploded, he suffered near-fatal injuries and underwent more than 20 operations over the following months. More than 200 bits of metal remained embedded in his body. For his actions, Lucas was presented the Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman in October 1945.

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