JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  Jack Lucas, who at 14 lied his way into the military to serve in World War II and became the youngest marine ever to receive the Medal of Honor, died Thursday in Hattiesburg, Miss., where he made his home. He was 80.

Mr. Lucas had been hospitalized with leukemia and died after asking doctors to remove a dialysis machine, said his wife, Ruby.

Jacklyn Lucas, known as Jack, was just six days past his 17th birthday when, in February 1945, his heroism at Iwo Jima earned him the medal. He used his body to shield three members of his squad from two grenades and was nearly killed when one exploded.

“A couple of grenades rolled into the trench,” Mr. Lucas said in an interview with The Associated Press shortly before he received the medal from President Harry S. Truman in October 1945. “I hollered to my pals to get out and did a Superman dive at the grenades.”