John Francis "Jake" Laboon Jr. (11 April 1921 – 1 August 1988) was an officer of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, who served as a submariner in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and as a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

.Richard Gribble CSC ''Navy Priest: The Life of Captain Jake Laboon SJ'' Washington D.C.:

The Catholic University of America Press The Catholic University of America Press, also known as CUA Press, is the publishing division of The Catholic University of America. Founded on November 14, 1939 and incorporated on July 16, 1941, the CUA Press is a long-time member of the Associ ...

, 2015.

Early life

Born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Pennsylvania, on 11 April 1921, John Laboon attended the

Carnegie Institute of Technology Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

for one year after high school at Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School. In 1939, he entered the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

, where he excelled in both

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

and academics. In 1942, he was a member of the All-East

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

Team, and in 1943, "jumped ship" to

college lacrosse College lacrosse is played by student-athletes at colleges and university, universities in the United States and Canada. In both countries, men's field lacrosse and women's lacrosse are played at both the varsity and club levels. College lacrosse ...

, where he was selected for the Intercollegiate National Championship Navy Lacrosse Team, defenseman on the All-American Lacrosse Squad, and participated in the North-South All-Star game. He also served as president of the

Newman Club Newman is a surname of Germanic Anglo-Saxon origins. Newman is the modern English form of the name used in Great Britain and among people of British ancestry around the world (as is 'Numan'), while Neumann (with variant spellings) is used in Ger ...

, a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

campus ministry group.

World War II

After accelerated graduation in 1943, he trained as a

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

officer at New London,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, and upon completion, was assigned to USS ''Peto'' (SS-265). During his tour, Laboon served as Communications Officer, Gunnery and

Torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

Officer, and

Executive Officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

. Lieutenant Junior Grade Laboon was awarded the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

for his heroic actions on ''Petos tenth war patrol. Following pick-up of a downed American pilot near

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

, the crew searched for his wingman. The second aviator was soon spotted, but the water was shallow and mined, preventing ''Peto'' from maneuvering closer. To make matters worse, they were under intense enemy fire from a Japanese shore battery. The submarine's commanding officer called for a volunteer, and without hesitation, LTJG Laboon dove off the submarine. Swimming through the mined waters, he rescued the pilot.

Priesthood

Lieutenant Laboon resigned from naval service shortly after the end of World War II, and entered the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

(Jesuits) on 31 October 1946. On 17 July 1956, Father Jake was ordained a Jesuit priest at

Woodstock, Maryland Woodstock is an unincorporated community which is a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The original village of Woodstock is located in Howard County, and also includes portions of Baltimore County and Carroll County. History Thoma ...

. Father Laboon then applied for a commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve Chaplain Corps in February 1957, and in December 1958 was recalled to active duty. Over the course of the next 22 years, "Father Jake" served in various duty stations around the world, including

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

. While in Vietnam, he was awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

with Combat "V" for his fearless actions as battlefield Chaplain with the

3rd Marine Division The 3rd Marine Division is a division (military), division of the United States Marine Corps based at Camp Courtney, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler in Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa, Japan. It is one of three active duty infantry division ...

in April 1969. Other notable milestones in his distinguished career included the honor of nomination for promotion to the rank of admiral and service as chief of chaplains. The

Polaris Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris (Latinisation of names, Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an ...

submarine program was also blessed with having Father Jake as its first chaplain. The U.S. Naval Academy was likewise honored with his services as the Senior Catholic Chaplain. On 31 October 1980, Captain Laboon retired as Fleet Chaplain,

U.S. Atlantic Fleet The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFFC) is a service component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to a wide variety of U.S. forces. The naval resources may be allocated to Combatant Commanders such as United Sta ...

. After retirement from the navy, Father Laboon returned to

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

, to oversee the construction of the Jesuit-retreat facility, Manresa-on-Severn, within view of the U.S. Naval Academy. His final assignment was pastor of St. Alphonsus Rodriguez Church in Woodstock, Maryland. He served there until his death on 1 August 1988. In 1993, the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

USS ''Laboon'' (DDG-58) was named in honor of Father Laboon. The Chaplain's Center at the Naval Academy is also named in his honor.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laboon, John 1921 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American Jesuits American Roman Catholic priests United States Navy officers United States Naval Academy alumni Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Navy chaplains Vietnam War chaplains People from Woodstock, Maryland Catholics from Maryland