Lt. Jack T. Laughlin
Del Rio, Val Verde County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Born in Del Rio on Sept. 17, 1914, Jack Thomas Laughlin graduated from Del Rio High School and earned a degree from the University of Texas. In 1940, he joined the Army Air Corps and the following year received his pilot’s wings at Stockton, CA. On Jan. 29, 1942, during World War II, his B-17 Flying Fortress was shot down over the Java Sea in the Indonesian islands. The U.S. Army established an airfield in Del Rio that year, and citizens and officials requested it be named for Laughlin, the first Del Rio-born pilot killed in the war. Despite the official policy for naming bases, the idea prevailed, and in March 1943 Laughlin Field was dedicated with the pilot’s widow and daughter in attendance. (2006)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in Del Rio in 1914, Jack Thomas Laughlin graduated from the local high school and the University of Texas before joining the Army Air Corps in 1940 and earning his wings in California. On January 29, 1942, his B-17 Flying Fortress was shot down over the Java Sea, making him the first Del Rio-born pilot killed in World War II. When the Army built an airfield in town that year, citizens successfully petitioned to name it in his honor.
Why it matters
Laughlin's story personalizes the war's cost for one American town and shows how communities chose to memorialize their fallen in the landscape itself.
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Related people
- · Lt. Jack Thomas Laughlin
Related events
- · World War II
Themes & tags
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Laughlin Army Air Field
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In 1942, with the nation racing to train pilots for World War II, the U.S. Army built an airfield east of Del Rio, where year-round clear skies and open ground offered near-ideal flying conditions. It was named for Lt. Jack Thomas Laughlin, a Del Rio native shot down over the Java Sea and the first local pilot killed in the war; his widow and infant daughter attended the 1943 dedication. Instructors trained crews on the B-26 Marauder before the base closed at war's end and reopened as an Air Force base in 1952.
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