Captain Leonard LaRue (January 14, 1914 – October 14, 2001), later known as "Brother Marinus", was the skipper of the SS ''Meredith Victory'', a

United States Merchant Marine The United States Merchant Marine is an organization composed of United States civilian sailor, mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of ...

cargo freighter that was involved in the largest humanitarian rescue operation by a single ship in human history. Under LaRue's leadership, the ship evacuated over 14,000 refugees to safety during the

Hungnam evacuation The Hungnam evacuation or Heungnam redeployment (), also known as the Miracle of Christmas, was the evacuation of United Nations Command, United Nations (UN) forces and North Korean civilians from the port of Hungnam, Hamhung, North Korea, betwee ...

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

Early career

Leonard LaRue attended the Pennsylvania Nautical School, served aboard the Schoolship ''Annapolis'', and graduated in 1934.

Rescue operation

Three days before Christmas in 1950, Captain LaRue's SS ''Meredith Victory'' was delivering military supplies to the besieged port of

Hungnam Hŭngnam () is a district of Hamhung, the second largest city in North Korea. It is a port city on the eastern coast on the Sea of Japan. It is only from the slightly inland city of Hamhung. In 2005 it became a ward of Hamhung. History The por ...

in northeast

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. Nearly 100,000 Korean refugees had gathered, hoping to board ships evacuating

United Nations Command United Nations Command (UNC or UN Command) is the multinational military force established to support the South Korea, Republic of Korea (South Korea) during and after the Korean War. It was the first attempt at collective security by the U ...

soldiers, arms, and supplies to safety in the southern port of

Pusan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southe ...

. With the SS ''Meredith Victory'' as one of the last remaining ships, over 14,000 refugees remained. LaRue made the decision to unload nearly all of the arms and supplies on the ship in order to board as many refugees as possible. Only hours away from advancing

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

n communist forces, LaRue ordered the ship to be converted to hold the refugees and was able to evacuate the refugees out of Hungnam. On December 23, the ''Meredith Victory'' sailed south with no mine detection equipment, no doctor, no interpreter, no lighting in the holds, no heat, and no sanitation facilities. The ship's only gun was the pistol in Captain LaRue's pocket. The ship arrived in Pusan on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

before heading to its final destination,

Geoje Island Geojedo (), or Geoje Island, is the principal island of Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is joined to land by two bridges from nearby Tongyeong. Gohyeon is the largest town on the island. Geojedo covers an area of , the second l ...

After the war

After the war, LaRue entered St. Paul's Abbey near

Newton, New Jersey Newton, officially the ''Town of Newton'', is an Local government in the United States, incorporated municipality in and the county seat of Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex County Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

. He committed his days to the tradition of ''ora et labora''—prayer and work—and was given the religious name "Brother Marinus". On March 25, 2019, Bishop Arthur Serratelli, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson opened the canonization cause for Captain LaRue, known as Brother Marinus, OSB.

Awards and decorations

* Gold Star Eulji - Order of Military Merit (1955) * Presidential Citation (1958) *

Merchant Marine Meritorious Service Medal The Merchant Marine Meritorious Service Medal is a decoration of the United States Merchant Marine. It is awarded to any seamen of any ship operated by or for the War Shipping Administration who is commended by the Administrator for conduct or se ...

(1960)Heroic Mariner-Monk Sails for Sainthood: Servant of God Marinus LaRue
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larue, Leonard 1914 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American sailors American Benedictines Sea captains People from Newton, New Jersey Catholics from New Jersey American Servants of God 21st-century venerated Christians

Early career

Rescue operation

After the war

Awards and decorations

See also

References