(TNS) — To honor Memorial Day and the Pittsburgh native for whom it was named, the USS Laboon, a guided missile destroyer commissioned in 1995, will be available for an online virtual tour.
Navy Lt. Rob Reichardt, of Chicago, narrates the nearly nine-minute tour, available on Facebook. The COVID-19 pandemic, he said, prevents in-person tours at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia, where the Laboon is currently based.
The ship is named for the Rev. John Francis “Jake” Laboon Jr., who was born in Mt. Lebanon in 1921.
“Father Jake did great things for both the surface force in the Navy and also the chaplain corps,” Lt. Reichardt said.
Father Laboon graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1939 and then attended Carnegie Technical Institute before being commissioned in the Naval Academy, graduating in 1943. He trained as a submarine officer and was assigned to the USS Peto. He served as a communications officer, gunnery and torpedo officer and executive officer.
As a lieutenant junior grade, he was awarded the Silver Star in the Western Pacific. According to the Navy, the USS Peto crew picked up a downed American pilot near the island of Honshu — Japan’s largest and main island. The pilot was spotted in water too shallow — and likely mined — to maneuver. The Peto commander asked for a volunteer, and Lt. Laboon dived off the submarine, swam through the water and rescued the pilot.
Lt. Laboon left the Navy shortly after the end of World War II, and in 1946 entered the Society of Jesus, becoming a Jesuit priest in 1956.
About seven months later, he applied for a commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve Chaplain Corps, and in December 1958, he was recalled to active duty.
For 22 years, Father Laboon served in duty stations in Alaska, Hawaii, Japan and Vietnam, where he was awarded the Legion of Merit with Combat “V” as battlefield chaplain with the 3rd Marine Division in 1969. He later was chaplain for the Atlantic Fleet.
His final assignment was as pastor of St. Alphonsus Rodriquez Church in Woodstock, Md., where he remained until his death on Aug. 1, 1988.
According to the Navy, Father Laboon was the most widely known and respected Roman Catholic chaplain in the U.S. Fleet.
The USS Laboon was named after him, and his motto, “Without Fear,” is written on the ship’s shield.
“It is important to at least virtually share the history of our namesake and other veterans on this holiday,” Lt. Reichardt said. “This Memorial Day, we again reflect on those who have shown unwavering commitment to serving our nation. Our motto is ‘Without Fear,’ and the Laboon crew lives by that, as ‘Father Jake’ so honorably did.”
During the tour, Lt. Reichardt describes the ship’s engines and the Integrated Bridge Navigation System. Information also is presented about the Combat Information Center. The ship holds more than 300 sailors.
According to www.uscarriers.net, the Laboon has traveled to ports all over the world, including the Arabian Gulf, Libya, Japan, Scotland, Turkey, Spain and Croatia and was the first destroyer to fire Tomahawk missiles.
