There are those moments in a nation’s history which never cease to make us feel proud of our country. For Englishmen it may be the great battles of Trafalgar or the Plains of Abraham. For the French it may be the battles of Marengo and Austerlitz. For Americans perhaps it is the battle of Manila Bay. One particular event in history which makes me feel proud to be an American is the burning of the USS Philadelphia in Tripoli harbor in 1803 by Stephen Decatur.
The scene takes place during the Barbary War between the young United States and the pirate state of Tripoli in North Africa. The Tripolitanians captured the US ship Philadelphia and imprisoned captain Bainbridge and his crew. Young American Commodore Stephen Decatur was commissioned to sail to Tripoli to blow up the captured ship to keep it from the pirate’s hands.
Decatur and his men entered the harbor at night in a less conspicuous Maltese craft. They requested permission to anchor next to the Philadelphia, feigning problems with their craft. Suddenly the Americans boarded the Philadelphia and set it afire. Then the Americans escaped on the nearby USS Siren. The great British admiral Horatio Nelson called the mission the “most bold and daring act of the age”.
Courage and heroism were commonplace in those times. Men and women frequently sacrificed their own interests to better serve others. Even today, heroes are not hard to find.