James Grifing Lucas (June 24, 1915 – July 22, 1971) was a war correspondent for

Scripps-Howard Newspapers The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...

who won a 1954

Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence. In its first six years (1942–1947), it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic R ...

Excerpts available
at

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. "for his notable front-line human interest reporting of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, the cease-fire and the

prisoner-of-war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

exchanges, climaxing 26 months of distinguished service as a war correspondent." He also reported on the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

and wrote a book about his experiences, ''Dateline: Vietnam''. Born in

Checotah, Oklahoma Checotah is a town in McIntosh County, Oklahoma, United States. It was named for Samuel Checote, the first chief of the Creek Nation elected after the American Civil War, Civil War. Its population was 3,481 at the United States Census, 2000, 2000 ...

, the son of Jim Bob Lucas, Jr. and Effie Lincoln Griffing, he began his journalism career as the editor of his high school newspaper. Lucas attended the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

before going to work for the ''

Muskogee Phoenix The ''Muskogee Phoenix'' is a daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety ...

'' as a feature writer. He also worked in broadcasting for

KBIX KBIX (1490 AM, "Las Americas 1490 AM & 102.9 FM") is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Muskogee, Oklahoma, United States. The station is owned by Antonio Perez, through licensee Grupo Teletul Multimedia, LLC. The s ...

in Muskogee and for the ''

Tulsa Tribune The ''Tulsa Tribune'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1919 to 1992. Owned and run by three generations of the Jones family, the ''Tribune'' closed in 1992 after the termination of its joint operating agreement w ...

''. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Lucas became a combat correspondent with the

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

, and began his association with Scripps-Howard before the end of the war. At the Battle of Tarawa, he was listed as killed in action for three days. For Lucas' vivid descriptions of that battle, he was awarded the 1943

National Headliners Award National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. He was the first recipient of the

Ernie Pyle Ernest Taylor Pyle (August 3, 1900 – April 18, 1945) was a Pulitzer Prize–winning American journalist and war correspondent who is best known for his stories about ordinary American soldiers during World War II. Pyle is also notable for the ...

Memorial Award, and the first person to receive it twice: first for his 1953 reporting on the

, and again for his 1964 reporting on the

. Lucas also was awarded a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and a Presidential Unit Citation for his Marine service. The Virginia Chapter of the United States Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association is named the Jim G. Lucas Chapter. He remained single all his life and died of abdominal cancer in Washington, DC.

References

* * * 1915 births 1971 deaths People from Checotah, Oklahoma American male journalists Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting winners E. W. Scripps Company people 20th-century American journalists Ernie Pyle Award winners Deaths from stomach cancer Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. American war correspondents of World War II {{US-journalist-1910s-stub