Jack Lummus

Andrew J. Lummus

• Bats Unknown Throws Unknown
• School Baylor University, Texas Military College
• High School Ennis High School

• Born October 22, 1915 in Ennis, TX USA
• Died March 9, 1945 in Iwo Jima Japan

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Jack Lummus played one year in the Minors before enlisting in the Marines in World War II. He died at Iwo Jima during the final months of the war.

Lummus hit .257 and slugged .436 in 26 games for the 1941 Wichita Falls Spudders, playing as an outfielder. He joined the Marine Corps Reserve in January 1942 and became a Second Lieutenant in December 1942.

From his Navy biography: "Returning to California, Lummus served as an instructor at Camp Elliott's Infantry School until transferring to Raider Battalion duty at Camp Pendleton in June 1943. In January 1944, he was assigned to the Second Battalion, Twenty-seventh Marines, Fifth Marine Division, taking command of a company a few months later. In mid-1944 his battalion went to Hawaii, where it was stationed at Camp Tarawa.

With his unit, First Lieutenant Lummus landed on Iwo Jima on 19 February 1945, and he served as a rifle platoon leader during the desperate struggle for that island. On 8 March 1945, while taking his platoon forward against well-planned Japanese fortifications, enemy fire halted the advance. Lummus individually attacked and destroyed two strong Japanese positions, despite being injured in both assaults. Returning to his platoon, he made a third attack, destroying another strong point. Still moving foward against the enemy defenses, Lummus was mortally wounded by a land mine. For his 'conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life' he was posthumuously awarded the Medal of Honor. Jack Lummus is buried at Myrtle Cemetery, Ennis, Texas."

Sources

• public domain text from http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/pers-us/uspers-l/j-lummus.htm