Jack Lummus Andrew Jackson Lummus , Jr . ( October 22 , 1915 – March 8 , 1945 ) was a two - sport athlete at Baylor University , a professional football player with the New York Giants , and an officer in the United States Marine Corps . He fought , and died , at the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II and received the Medal of Honor for his service . Biography . He was born in Ellis County , Texas on a cotton farm . He was the youngest child and only son of four born to Andrew Jackson Lummus Sr . , and Laura Francis Lummus . He attended Ennis High School from September 1931 through May 1934 , where he was a star in football and track . He received all - district honors for football in his sophomore and junior years . He dropped out before the end of his senior year due to the views of his family that the cost of graduating , such as buying a picture and gown , were too wasteful considering the ongoing Depression . This may also have been affected by a case of influenza he contracted . He finished his high school education at Texas Military College on a two - year sports scholarship and won all - conference honors for his participation in football . He graduated on May 28 , 1937 , receiving scholarship offers from Baylor University and Tulane University . He enrolled at Baylor on September 14 , 1937 . There , he was an All - Southwest Conference center field er for three years and an outstanding end on the football team . Those three years , the Bears finished third in baseball , and Lummus was considered to be the best center fielder that had ever played for Baylor . In football he played first - string end wearing No . 53 . For two consecutive years , he was nominated by the Associated Press to the All - American team , and in 1938 he made honorable mention for the team . He was sometimes compared to Sam Boyd . Before he left Baylor , he signed a minor league baseball contract with the Wichita Falls Spudders , and uniform player ' s contract with the New York Giants . On May 26 , 1941 , an Army Air Corps recruiter came to the school . Lummus and 25 other students enlisted in the Air Corps and signed up for a civilian flying school as a result of this visit . While waiting for the Air Corps to call him , Lummus inexplicably dropped out of Baylor ; he was going to graduate soon , and his academic records showed satisfactory grades . The ongoing war in Europe was thought to have influenced this decision After dropping out , Lummus joined the Class D Spudders of the West Texas - New Mexico League . He played right and center field . On July 6 , 1941 , he played his 26th , and last , game for the Spudders . The Army Air Corps had called on him to honor his enlistment papers . In those 26 games , he had a . 257 batting average . Lummus reported to Hicks Field , 40 miles northwest of Fort Worth , Texas , to enroll in the flight school there that was licensed by the Army but run by civilians . While making his first solo flight , he flew the flight plan and landed without flaw . While taxiing on the runway however , he accidentally clipped a fence with his wingtip , washing him out of flight school . New York Giants football career . He then traveled to the New York Giants ' training camp in Superior , Wisconsin . As one of the 30 players who made the Giants ' roster , he wore No . 29 . He had signed on as a free agent and received a $ 100 monthly salary . He made the team as a rookie end and played in nine games . On December 7 , 1941 , the Giants were playing their archrival the Brooklyn Dodgers . Around half - time , the Associated Press ticker in the press box gave out a message saying , " Airplanes identified as Japanese have attacked the American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor . " The players continued the game , knowing nothing of the attack . The Giants lost but went on to play the Chicago Bears in the NFL championship game . Military career . After the championship game , Lummus enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve on January 30 , 1942 . After finishing basic training at the Mainside Recruit Training Center in San Diego , California , he was assigned to Camp Elliott , 10 miles north of San Diego . There he joined the Devildogs , the San Diego Marine Corps baseball club . In May 1942 , he was sent to the busy seaport of Mare Island as a military police man . There he joined another baseball club . On June 10 , he was promoted to private first class , and two months later he was promoted to corporal . On October 18 , he enrolled at the Officers Training School at Quantico , Virginia . He graduated on December 18 , and received a commission as a second lieutenant . He was sent back to California and was assigned to the elite Marine Raiders at Camp Pendleton . When the Marine Raiders were dissolved , he was assigned to the 27th Marines , 5th Marine Division . In January 1944 , he was assigned as executive officer , Company F , Second Battalion , 27th Marines . In August 1944 , the division was transferred to Camp Tarawa outside of Waimea , Hawaii . Lummus boarded the USS " Henry Clay " for the trip . After four months of training , the division was assigned to the V Amphibious Corps and would fight to take the island of Iwo Jima . Iwo Jima . Lummus was in the first wave of troops to land at Iwo Jima on February 19 , 1945 . He landed at 9 a . m . on the beach known as Red One . He and his platoon spent the next two weeks incessantly fighting the dug - in Japanese . His initial duty was a liaison officer for the Second Battalion , spotting targets on the slopes of Mt . Suribachi for artillery and air strikes . On March 6 , he was given command of Company E ' s third rifle platoon . On March 8 , his platoon was spearheading a final assault on an objective east of Kitano Point , near the northern edge of the island . Despite minor wounds received from grenade shrapnel , Lummus knocked out three enemy strongholds , well - fortified positions arranged to defend each other , which were preventing his platoon from reaching its objective . Following this action , he stepped on a land mine and was mortally wounded , losing his legs . While lying on the ground , he urged his platoon on , until he was carried off to an aid station . At the aid station , he famously told the doctor , Thomas M . Brown , " Well , doc , the New York Giants lost a mighty good end today . " . He was transferred to the field hospital , where he underwent surgery and a transfusion of 18 pints of blood , but died of internal wounds on the operating table . He was buried in plot five , row 13 , grave 1 , 244 in the Fifth Division Cemetery . His body was later moved to Ennis , Texas . In a letter to his mother , Lummus ' commanding officer wrote : Medal of Honor citation . His Medal of Honor citation reads : For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as leader of a Rifle Platoon attached to the 2d Battalion , 27th Marines , 5th Marine Division , in action against enemy Japan ese forces on Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands , 8 March 1945 . Resuming his assault tactics with bold decision after fighting without respite for 2 days and nights , 1st Lt . Lummus slowly advanced his platoon against an enemy deeply entrenched in a network of mutually supporting positions . Suddenly halted by a terrific concentration of hostile fire , he unhesitatingly moved forward of his front lines in an effort to neutralize the Japanese position . Although knocked to the ground when an enemy grenade exploded close by , he immediately recovered himself and , again moving forward despite the intensified barrage , quickly located , attacked , and destroyed the occupied emplacement . Instantly taken under fire by the garrison of a supporting pillbox and further assailed by the slashing fury of hostile rifle fire , he fell under the impact of a second enemy grenade but , courageously disregarding painful shoulder wounds , staunchly continued his heroic 1 - man assault and charged the second pillbox , annihilating all the occupants . Subsequently returning to his platoon position , he fearlessly traversed his lines under fire , encouraging his men to advance and directing the fire of supporting tank s against other stubbornly holding Japanese emplacements . Held up again by a devastating barrage , he again moved into the open , rushed a third heavily fortified installation and killed the defending troops . Determined to crush all resistance , he led his men indomitably , personally attacking foxholes and spider traps with his carbine and systematically reducing the fanatic opposition until , stepping on a land mine , he sustained fatal wounds . By his outstanding valor , skilled tactics , and tenacious perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds , 1st Lt . Lummus had inspired his stouthearted marines to continue the relentless drive northward , thereby contributing materially to the success of his regimental mission . His dauntless leadership and unwavering devotion to duty throughout sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the U . S . Naval Service . He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country .