Foreword written by Senator Bob Dole

Published simultaneously with Clint Eastwood's movie Flags of Our Fathers, honoring the Marines
at Iwo Jima.

"I expect this eloquent yet plain-spoken memoir to be the military book of its season."Jim Hornfischer,
military historian

At the height of the Battle of Iwo Jima, during a U.S. assault on a vital airfield on the day after the island
invasion began, Jack Lucas and three other Marines were attacking a Japanese pillbox when two enemy
grenades landed in their midst. Private Lucas jumped on both of them, driving them in the volcanic ash.
Then they exploded. Thus did a seventeen-year-old from North Carolina become the youngest soldier in
the twentieth century, and the youngest Marine in history, to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Today, when Jack Lucas speaks, crowds gather to honor him and pay tribute to Marine heritage and pride.
Mr. Lucas is as close a thing to a rock star as our World War II generation has.

Jack Lucas served his country in three wars before retiring from the service. He lives in Mississippi.