Justin Laborde, Scattered Far and Wide: The Naval Academy Class of ’38 at War

Scattered Far and Wide follows the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1938 as they rise from junior officers to combat leaders in World War II’s most pivotal battles. Through firsthand accounts and deep research, Justin Laborde brings their stories of courage, sacrifice, and survival vividly to life.

Scattered Far and Wide tells the war stories of U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen from the Class of 1938. Commissioned on the eve of World War II, they bore the new burden of command while at the fore of the Pacific War’s largest and most pivotal campaigns. They felt the wind and spray in their faces and the percussion of ships’ guns and depth charges at the pivotal moment in their lives and careers, making their experiences unusually compelling, heartbreaking, and— most assuredly— instructive.

From Pearl Harbor through the end of the war, these men fought and struggled for survival as part of the U.S. Navy’s Asiatic Fleet. In the early months of the conflict, they tried to stem the onslaught of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Some were captured and sent to brutal prisoner-of-war camps. Others took to the air from aircraft carriers as members of torpedo, bomber, and fighter squadrons during the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway. Later in the war, a number served aboard submarines, experiencing some of the most legendary patrols in the history of the Silent Service. The young men who graduated from the Naval Academy in 1938 earned medals and fame, left legacies of heroism and loss, and sparked tales of renown and bravery that reverberate today.

Justin Laborde, PhD, is a strategic consultant and frequent speaker on consumer trends, marketplace insights, and business-growth strategies at Fortune 500 companies. Raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Justin now lives with his wife, Amanda, and their three children in Cary, North Carolina. Justin’s grandfather, Alden Laborde, was a member of the Class of 1938. Upon his death, Justin obtained a 1938 edition of The Lucky Bag, the Naval Academy’s yearbook. Reading the memoirs of Alden’s classmates, Justin realized he was well placed to tell the fascinating and unreported story of this class’s experiences in World War II.