Remember the Intrepid

Lt. Caldwell, Midshipman Dorsey & the Tripoli MIAs

2012-02-03T12:39:00.000-08:00

Master Commandant Richard Somers - Commander of the ketch Intrepid on its last mission.

It says, inscribed in Latin on the Tripoli Monument at Annapolis, "Here lies the remains of" before the names of the officers who died in the course of the first war against the Barbary Pirates, including Richard Somers, Henry Wadsworth, Joseph Israel, James Decatur and James Caldwell, among others. This clearly indicates that the officers who had the Tripoli Monument built certainly intended their remains to be retrieved from their Tripoli graves.

While Somers, Wadsworth and Israel were killed in the September 4, 1804 explosion of the Intrepid in Tripoli harbor, the others also died in the course of the Battle of Tripoli and are buried somewhere along its shores.

One of the goals of the mission of the Intrepid was to free the 300 man crew of the frigate USS Philadelphia, which ran aground while chasing a pirate corsair into Tripoli Harbor. Captain Bainbridge surrendered his ship without a fight, which would later lead to his court marshal and acquittal, while his first officer, Lt. David Porter would, once freed, take up the collection to have the Tripoli Monument constructed.

Lt. Stephen Decatur, Richard Somers' childhood schoolmate, took the Intrepid into Tripoli harbor one night disguised as a trader that had run the American blockade, and recaptured and sunk the Philadelphia in Tripoli harbor.

Throughout August 1804, Captain Preble, the commander of the American Squadron, supervised a number of attacks against the pirates at Tripoli, engaging the entire American fleet on at least four occasions, having the larger ships fire cannon broadsides against the castle batteries, while the smaller ships escorted gunboats with cannon mounted on their bows into the enemy fleet, at pistol range and often engaged in sword duels and hand to hand fighting.

Preble assigned Richard Somers to oversee one flank while Stephen Decatur oversaw another, and both achieved success in the fighting during every attack.

Lt. Caldwell, who knew Somers and Decatur as Philadelphia school boys, was given command of a captured enemy gunboat that was outfitted with cannon and ten men. Not long into the first battle,
Caldwell's Gunboat #9 received a direct hit from a hot cannonball fired from the castle ramparts. The fireball hit the gunboat's gunpowder and ammo cache, which resulted in a tremendous explosion that completely destroyed the boat and killed everyone aboard. The bodies of Lt. Caldwell and Midshipman Dorsey, their officer's uniforms clearly seen by the American prisoners being mauled by wild dogs.

In one fight, Stephen Decatur's younger brother, Lt. James Decatur, captured an enemy gunboat, but the pirate captain, after surrendering, killed young Decatur after his guard was down. In the midst of the battle, when Stephen Decatur realized what happened to his brother, disengaged from his own fight, after capturing an enemy boat, cut it lose and went after the pirate captain who had killed his brother. Finding him, while they were engaged in a furious fight, Reuben James took a sword meant for Decatur and saved his life. Decatur killed the enemy captain, but was reprimanded by Preble for losing the pirate ship he had captured.

Some say it was the captured Captain Bainbridge who secreted a note to Preble, suggesting that the Intrepid be outfitted as a fireship and sent back into the harbor to sink the anchored pirate fleet.

Somers and Wadsworth volunteered for that mission and Lt. Israel, who outfitted the Intrepid with its explosives, insisted on joining the mission, which resulted in them all being killed, along with ten other men.

As with Caldwell, Dorsey and the men of Gunboat #9, their bodies washed ashore and were mauled by the wild dogs before they were given over to an American burial party led by the chief surgeon of the Philadelphia Dr. Cowdery, who identified the three officers, primarily by their uniforms.

Lieutenant James R. Caldwell, USN, (1778-1804)

James R. Caldwell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 1 November 1778. He was appointed a Midshipman in the U.S. Navy in May 1798 and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant at the beginning of November 1800. During the undeclared war with France he served in the frigate United States, schooner Experiment and armed ship Ganges. From late 1801 into 1803 Lieutenant Caldwell was an officer of the frigate Constellation during the initial phase of the war with Tripoli. In mid-1803 he returned to the Mediterranean in the brig Siren to participate in further operations against that piratical North African state. Caldwell distinguished himself in a boat action on 7 July 1804 and also took part in an attack on 3 August that resulted in the capture of three vessels that were taken into the Navy as gunboats. One of these, Gunboat Number 9, was under Caldwell's command when the U.S. squadron again bombarded Tripoli on 7 August 1804. While hotly engaged with an enemy battery, a hot shot penetrated her magazine and Gunboat Number 9 blew up. Lieutenant Caldwell and eleven others were killed or mortally wounded in the explosion.

The U.S. Navy has named two ships in honor of James R. Caldwell, including: USS Caldwell (Destroyer # 69, later DD-69) of 1917-1936; and USS Caldwell (DD-605) of 1942-1966.

The USS Bainbridge, which is on counter-pirate duty off Africa, is named after the Captain of the Philadelphia.

The USS Reuban James was named after the man who saved the life of Lt. Stephen Decatur.

There were six US navy ships named after Richard Somers.

The uniform coat of Lt. Henry Wadsworth, who died in the explosion of the Philadelphia.

Lt. James Caldwell and Midshipman Dorsey and the other ten men of Gunboat #9 were possibly buried by locals on the harbor shore or in the slave cemetery.

Somers, Wadsworth and Decatur, recognized primarily by their uniforms, were buried by Dr. Cowdery in a mass grave near another mass grave that contained the remains of the ten seamen.

When their remains are unearthed, or uncovered in the crypts, it is possible that the three officers can be recognized by their uniforms. If the cloth no longer exists, it is possible that their buttons will be found and provide the clue that will help identify the remains of the officers apart from the others.

So besides the three officers and ten men of the Intrepid, the remains of Lt. Caldwell and Midshipmen Dorsey and the other nine men of Gunboat #9 also remain Missing In Action in Tripoli.

In addition, five men from the Philadelphia decided to defect and convert to the Muslim faith, but when a treaty was established, and Bainbridge and the men of the Philadelphia freed, they were asked if they wanted to go home and all but one of them did. Instead they were either enslaved or executed, and probably buried in the Slave cemetery.

Once freed, Lt. David Porter took up a collection from other officers in Preble's Squadron and commissioned the construction of the Tripoli Monument in the name of the officers who died.

Nearly two hundred years later, in 1988, a Navy plane was shot down after bombing Tripoli during Operation El Dorado Canyon, but the body of only one of the two pilots was discovered, and over the following Christmas, repatriated via the Vatican.

The other officer remains MIA, and is believed to have been found by locals and buried somewhere near Tripoli.

So in total, there are three officers and ten men of the Intrepid, whose remains were recovered and buried, and there was Lt. James Caldwell, Midshipman Dorsey and the other ten men of Gunboat #9.

Then there were the five men of the Philadelphia who deserted and were probably executed.

That's thirteen, twelve and five, who along with the pilot from El Dorado Canyon makes it 31 US Navy men who are Missing In Action in Tripoli.

Heroes of America's First Foreign War In Libyan Cemetery

2012-01-24T08:45:00.000-08:00

Sec. Defense Panetta visits the Old Protestant Cemetery in Tripoli (Dec. 2011, where the remains of Intrepid heroes rest.

Heroes Of America’s First Foreign War In Libyan Cemetery

Posted on 23 January 2012
By Richard Sisk
http://www.thewarreportonline.com/2012/01/23/heroes-of-americas-first-foreign-war-in-libyan-cemetery-2/

The War Report

They were arguably the first SEALs.

More than two centuries ago, they rode a “floating volcano” fire ship in a valiant try at blowing up the pirate fleet to save the honor of the new nation, free POWs and stop the payoffs that the Founding Fathers were making to slavers and hostage takers.

The 13 sailors, including the uncle of the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, were on a special ops night mission for the fledgling Navy of the young United States of America. All were killed when their sail-powered bomb named the Intrepid, crammed to the gunnels with powder kegs, exploded before reaching its targets in the harbor of Tripoli on Sept. 4, 1804.

Through countless changes of regime in Libya ever since, the remains of the sailors have rested in what has become known as the Old Protestant Cemetery of Tripoli. Now there’s a dustup between descendants of the sailors, who want the remains repatriated, and the Navy, which argues against disturbing the graves.

Last month, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, on the first visit to Libya by a Pentagon chief, backed up the Navy after a brief tour of the cemetery on a bluff overlooking the sea to “pay my respects to the heroes from the United States’ first overseas war.”

““These brave sailors from the Intrepid, who died in the service of their country, have our nation’s enduring respect and gratitude. Having sailed into harm’s way to secure our nation’s interests, they volunteered for a dangerous mission and paid the ultimate price.”

Panetta made the case for leaving the remains in Libya:.” It is a sign of the great friendship between the American and Libyan people that, in spite of the differences that have marked our governments’ relations over the years, the Libyan people have maintained this cemetery with the respect and honor that it deserves, designating it a protected historic property.“

The descendants had been pressing for a Congressional resolution calling for repatriation but their efforts were sidetracked last month by an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act directing the Navy and the Pentagon to study the issue and report back within 270 days.

The study commission move was seen as a traditional Washington way of sweeping the issue under the rug in Somers Point, N.J., which is named for a relative of the leader of the Intrepid raid, Richard Somers.

“It’s hard to think of any unbiased study coming from this,” said Sally Hastings, head of the Intrepid Project and chairwoman of the Somers Point Historical Society. “Yes, we were disappointed.”

Master Commandant Richard Somers, Lt. Henry Wadsworth, the uncle of Longfellow, and the 11 other sailors fell in the First Barbary War that was fought in the administration of President Thomas Jefferson to win freedom of the seas and respect for the U.S. as a nation. It was also very much about the money.

Since the 1780s, the corsairs sent out by the assorted pashas, deys, beys and bashaws of the Barbary States of Morocco, Tunis, Algiers and Tripoli had been preying on the merchant ships of the U.S. They captured the ships, enslaved the crews, held them for ransom and exacted tribute for future safe passage.

Jefferson, as ambassador to France and later secretary of State, had argued for ignoring the problem. His position was that the future of the U.S. lay to the West in continental America, and not in getting mired in the intrigues of the Old World, but he was overruled by Presidents George Washington and John Adams.

They made annual payoffs to the pirate states. One payment to Algiers was estimated at $1 million, a colossal sum at the time. Washington and Adams saw no other choice. There was no Navy. The Continental navy of the Revolution was disbanded after the war.

Congress increasingly bridled at the payments and took up the cry “Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute. In 1798, the Department of the Navy was formed and Congress authorized the building of six frigates to take on the Barbary States. In what was to become typical of Congress in such matters, the pork for the building of the six ships was parceled out to six states.

In 1804, Jefferson, now a hawk, sent the frigates under the command of Commodore Edward Preble to blockade and bombard the port of Tripoli.

It didn’t begin well. The USS Philadelphia ran aground in the harbor while in pursuit of an enemy ship and the crew was captured. The pirates set up the Philadelphia as a stationary gun battery.
Preble came up with a made-for-Hollywood plan that relied on the daring of the swashbuckling Lt. Stephen Decatur, and would ultimately give the infant Navy the esteem it craved. With 80 volunteers, Decatur took a captured Turkish ketch, re-named the Intrepid, and sailed into the harbor flying British colors with his crew dressed as Arab seamen. Their goal was to destroy the Philadelphia.

The surprise attack worked. The Interpid pulled alongside the Philadelphia, Decatur shouted “Board” and his crew went hand-over-hand to the main deck where they killed the defenders.
In one last bit of daring, Decatur sent his crew back aboard the Intrepid while he set fire to the Philadelphia. The guns of the frigate overheated and began discharging in the fires as Decatur waited for the Intrepid to sail slowly past again. He leapt into the rigging of the Intrepid to escape.

Word of Decatur’s exploits quickly spread and British Lord Horatio Nelson called it “the most bold and daring act of the age.” But the pirate fleet was still in the harbor and Preble came up with another plan of attack that again relied on the Intrepid.

Somers, Wadsworth and their crew packed the ketch with explosives and again sailed into the harbor intending to light fuses next to the enemy ships but the Interpid blew up before reaching the targets, either from fire from the enemy or a premature explosion.

The bodies of the Intrepid sailors were dragged through the streets of Tripoli and captured Americans were later forced to recover and bury them.

The conflict with the Barbary States would not be settled until 1805, when Marine Lt. Presley O’Bannon and William Eaton, the U.S. consul to Tunis, led about 500 Greek and Arab mercenaries on a 500-mile march across the desert to capture the Tripolitan city of Derna, leading to a treaty to end the war. Their feats have been immortalized in the Marine hymn “…to the shores of Tripoli.”

The oldest military monument in the U.S., the Tripoli Monument, was commissioned to honor the heroes of from the age of sail. The monument was at the Washington Navy Yard until 1831 when it was moved to the west lawn of the Capitol. In 1860, the monument was moved again to its current site at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

Its site is near Preble Hall, named for the commander of the men who gave their lives in America’s first foreign conflict.

(Photo: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in Tripoli cemetery where Intrepid heroes rest. Defense Department photo.)

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Richard Sisk is the Washington, D.C.-based reporter for The War Report. He comes to The War Report after 40 years of local, national, and international reporting and editing at the New York Daily News and United Press International. His foreign assignments have ranged from Vietnam and the Mideast to Bosnia and Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Central America and the Caribbean. He has covered five presidential campaigns. Sisk served in Vietnam as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 2nd Battalion, Fourth Marines, in 1967-68. You can reach him at rich@thewarreportonline.com.

The INTREPID Graves at Old Protestant Cemetery, Tripoli Libya

2012-01-19T12:33:00.000-08:00

1949 Ceremony honoring the men of the INTREPID buried at Old Protestant Cemetery, Tripoli

The INTREPID Graves at Tripoli’s Old Protestant Cemetery

By William E. Kelly, Jr. (billkelly3@gmail.com)

How did the Navy discover the INTREPID graves? – A 100 year old Jewish fortune teller told them.

“...Signor Andrea told me of the many stories he had heard told by the elders among the Jewish Community still living in the Old City. These stories told of the bodies that were buried on the east shore of the harbor…One of these old men was Hawoto Hatuma, almost one hundred years old at the time. He remembered his father telling him of great explosions in Tripoli Harbor in the year 1804, and great fires that kept the city excited for days. Those were of ships that burned in the harbor and resulted in many,...Americans sailors being killed. Those sailors were buried where they were found on the eastern shore of Tripoli...The stated purpose of the visits was to have my fortune told. Over cups of tea and smokes my fortune was told time and time again. A great friendship developed between us, and stories were exchanged ‘till the Intrepid story came up, and here my interest was at its greatest. Most of the people had heard stories from their fathers and grandfathers of the bodies of the American sailors that were buried on the eastern shores of the harbor, exactly where the English cemetery is located.”
– Mustapha Burchis

One reason the Navy does not want to repatriate the remains of the INTREPID sailors from Tripoli is because they’re not sure the graves at the Old Protestant Cemetery are actually those of the men of the INTREPID, and they don’t really want to know the truth.

When it comes to repatriation of these men from Tripoli, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Renee Richardson of the Department of Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office said, “The remains uncovered during construction by the Italian road crew in the 1930’s were not readily or properly identified as being Americans or from INTREPID. There is no evidence (except the political expediency of post WWII Relations) to suggest that the remains were not merely those of other unfortunate wretches who died in Tripoli.” [1]

“The only anecdotally evidence we have,” Richardson wrote, “is from 1949, when it was in the best interest of the government of Tripoli to cement relations with the U.S., and suddenly those five unmarked graves are alleged to contain the remains of American sailors from INTREPID.” [2]

Although the definitive evidence could be easily ascertained by opening the crypts, identifying their contents, and repatriate them if they are determined to be the men of the INTREPID, Richardson espouses the military’s position that it is best not to know, just pretend they are, and leave them where they lie.

Instead of just opening the crypts and seeing what’s in them, which we will eventually get around doing, let’s look at the historical records and extant “anecdotal evidence,” that makes it appear that the marked graves at the Old Protestant Cemetery are those of the men of the INTREPID.

The idea that these five marked graves are those of men of the INTREPID stems from the research of a Libyan, Mustafa Burchis, a Tripoli Harbor master who took up the 1938 request of President Franklyn D. Roosevelt to see if the graves of the men of the INTREPID could be located. [3]

In the April 1950 edition of the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Lieutenant (J.G.) Arthur P. Miller, Jr. USNR wrote an article “TRIPOLI GRAVES DISCOVERED,” and again in September, 1956 the same journal published a second article “Lost But Not Forgotten - Resting Place of Heroes of the Barbary Wars,” by Arthur M. Johnson and Mustapha Burchis.

Johnson, an assistant professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, edited the translated account of Mustapha Burchis, who is described as coming “from an old Moslem family which fought Italian colonization in Libya and kept on fighting. At the age of 12, he was taken prisoner during one of the many battles with the Italians, and was sent from Derna to Tripoli and put to work. He grew up amongst sailors of all nationalities – without any formal education, although he learned to read and write Italian and Arabic. Since 1914 he has worked at the port of Triopli and was eventually promoted to the post of harbor master and ‘marshal’ or head of all the Libyans employed by the Tripoli Port Authorities of the Italian Armed Forces.”

In the first article Lt. Miller got some of his facts wrong (ie. referring to “William” rather than Richard Somers), so in the second article Johnson relied primarily on the first hand account of Burchis himself, as translated by Shafic Ibrahim, a Lebanese teacher of English. First the Miller account.

In his USNI Proceedings article [4] Miller had relates that:

“The investigation actually got its start in 1938 when, in response to an inquiry from the American embassy in Rome concerning the fate of the men of the Intrepid. Mr. Burchis undertook a meticulous examination of old Jewish records, private Arab collections of letters, papers, and diaries, and interviewed innumerable descendants of residents of Tripoli at the time of the disaster.”

“The harbor master set down in detail the results of his investigations and wrote a complete report of the matter which was then transmitted to the American embassy in Rome. Unfortunately, however, this report was among American state papers which were burned by embassy officials in 1941 upon the outbreak of war. The investigation was revived last year when Mr. Burchis retraced his findings from his original notes. Together with Mr. Taft, he was able once more to piece together the story of the five graves.”

“The Intrepid had exploded in a pass located about half way down the length of the present north breakwater and all the pertinent stories he [Mr. Burchis] has heard say that five bodies had drifted up on the beach in front of a cliff,” Consul Taft relates in a report to the State Department concerning his research. ‘From this beach they were unceremoniously dragged to the cliff and interred in rough pattern. I questioned Mr. Burchis at length as to his belief in the reliability of his information and could find no flaw in his pattern of investigation,’ Mr. Taft adds.”

“Mr. Taft and Mr. Burchis, together with the American vice consul, went to the cemetery, named the old Protestant Cemetery, on the outskirts of the town an directly above the cliff where Mr. Burchis said the bodies had been dragged. Mr. Burchis then without hesitation picked out five graves located in the northeast corner.”

“Subsequent to the burial of the bodies in 1804, Mr. Burchis explained, it became necessary to establish the old Protestant Cemetery for the burial of foreigners. Since five Americans were already known to be interred there, a wall was erected around the plot and the whole cemetery was dedicated in a ceremony which was attended by the then present diplomatic and consular officials, including those of the United States.”

“Upon this identification of the five bodies as being those of five men from the Intrepid, Mr. Taft sent a telegram to Vice Admiral Forest P. Sherman, USN, commanding the U.S. Mediterranean Fleet, stating that he had substantial evidence that the graves of five American sailors lost on the Intrepid in 1804 had been discovered, Admiral Sherman immediately arranged for a visit to Tripoli of Rear Admiral R. H. Cruzen, Commander, Cruiser Division Two, and the Spokane.”

“The five unknown sailors who had died so valiantly fighting for their country were given final honors in a colorful ceremony attended by many high diplomats, military, and government officials. A band of Scottish Camerons played martial music as the detachment from the Spokane as well as a unit of the British Army stationed at Tripoli marched the half a mile from the town to the grave site.”

“In short addresses, Rear Admiral Cruzen spoke on the early history of the Navy and of ts exploits during the Barbary Wars, Captain W. J. Marshall, USN, commanding officer of the Spokane, narrated the Intrepid mission, and Consul Taft told of the research done to identify the graves and unveiled the memorial plaque to the five heroes. Lieutenant E. J. Sheridan, USN, chaplain of the Spokane, read a short prayer, and an honor guard of Marines fired several volleys over the new graves and played taps.”

“Interestingly enough, Joseph Karamanli, the present mayor of Tripoli and direct descendant of the Joseph Karamanli, who was Bashaw of Tripoli at the time of the Barbary Wars, attended the ceremony with approximately 50 other guests.” [4]

A few years after Miller’s article the USNI Proceedings published the more detailed account by Arthur M. Johnson that includes the first hand report by Mustapha Burchis.

In that article Johnson wrote: “According to one report, the bodies of the three officers were buried in the same grave ‘about a cable’s length to the southward and eastward of the Castle.’ The ten seamen were said to have been laid to rest ‘on the beach,’ but the beach and the location of the graves were soon lost to memory. The question of their whereabouts did not arise as a subject for on-the-spot investigation until 1938. In March of 1938 President Franklin D. Roosevelt requested the Navy to take ‘any reasonable means available’ to locate (and) identify the graves of the Intrepid's crew.’”

“The assistance of the State Department was requested in this matter,” Johnson wrote, “and the Embassy in Rome in August, 1938, provided the Department with two reports on it. However, no further action seems to have been taken by the American government at that time. How the graves were discovered by a Tripolitan drawn into this search by accident, and how they finally came to be officially recognized by the United States Government, is the subject of the following narrative. Because of its simple eloquence, it is presented substantially as the author, Mustapha Burcis, wrote it.”

The account of MUSTAPHA BURCHIS [5]:

“I first heard in May, 1938, of the five graves of the American sailors who died in the explosion of the Intrepid. At the time, Italy ruled my country and I was a ‘marshal’ working with the Tripoli Port Authorities. The rank of ‘marshal’ was equivalent to Sergeant Majro and it was the highest rank a Libyan could get in the Italian Armed Forces. As head of all Libyans employed at the Port, I had a great deal of influence and the Italians often used my services in collecting and finding information.”

“One day Colonel Carlo Pumo, Port Commander, called me to his office. Port Captain Mario Battaglieri was also there. The Colonel showed me the message from the American Embassy in Rome, requesting any available information that might lead to the discovery of the whereabouts of the graves of the American sailors killed in the explosion of the Intrepid in 1804. Even if no information were available, the Embassy agreed to pay for any search made.”

“That day I went home with big dreams and great ideas. I thought of myself as the discoverer of a hidden secret, a secret of heroic death. I dreamed that the American Government would take me to America, and I would be a great man. America was a dream to me, a dream of wealth and freedom, and now I had my big chance of having it come true.”

“Besides the fact that those sailors were killed in 1804, I knew nothing on the subject. Thus my first logical step was to read about its history in order that my steps might be guided in finding the secret that had been hidden for almost one hundred and fifty years.”

“The Italian authorities in Tripoli had many libraries which I visited day after day after work, to read the history of the Barbary Pirates. Having saturated myself with the history, I turned my attention to the problem of getting information about the dead sailors. This took me to the following possible sources. The first was Suleiman Bey Karamanli, who gave me permission to use his private collection of books, publications and manuscripts. This collection yielded no information to me because a large number of the publications were in Turkish, which language I do not know. I was forced to get translators who could help me.”

“The Castle Library was of great interest but yielded no new information. However my constant trips to the Castle aroused the interest of an old guard who in his quiet manner daily inquired about my health and my studies, and in a longer conversation he accidentally mentioned municipality records and the Moslem Property Department records, saying that if I wanted any information of my missing relatives I could find something in those places, but not here.”

“Following the old man’s wisdom, I carried my search to those two places. At the municipality I met another Karamanli who was the head and mayor of the Moslem community in Libya. He gave me all the assistance I needed, but there were no records that went back as far as 1804. At the offices of the Moslem Property Department I met the Director, Ilmail Kamal, a Libyan historian well informed of Libyan history and events, but he knew nothing of the fate of the American sailors.”

“Next, I visited the ‘Judge of Judges,’ President of the Moslem Courts, Mohammed Burkhis, an old, learned man and one who gave the impression of never having lost his touch with the old customs and habits of the Bedouins. The stories he knew and had heard of about the naval battles between Americans and Tripoli Pirates were numerous, and he told me of the many ships that sank in Tripoli harbor and the many dead that were always found on the eastern shores of the city. The story about the eastern shore later turned out to be a fact, but at that point it had no significance to me. The Judge however, indicated in his conversation that the Christian churches in Tripoli might know something of the fate of the Christian sailors.” [5]

After failing to obtain any useful information from Monsignore Facchinetti, or the British Consulate, Burchis talked to the editor of the Arabic newspaper Sheik Mohammed Al-Misurati – who had read in an Egyptian publication that the American sailors killed during the Karamanli Wars “were buried on the eastern shore of Tripoli,” and noted that, “the Sheik then added this logical conclusion, ‘and maybe that is why the English cemetery started there.’”

The “English cemetery” is what became known as the “Old Protestant Cemetery,” where the INTREPID graves are located.

MUSTAPHA BURCHIS (continued):

“Back in Tripoli I got an afternoon off and [visited] Signor Andrea Farrugia at the Maritime Agent’s Office. Signor Andrea told me of the many stories he had heard told by the elders among the Jewish Community still living in the Old City. These stories told of the bodies that were buried on the east shore of the harbor.”

“These constant references to the eastern shore convinced me that I should follow this line of research. Life in the old city and the ancient traditions made approach to the people difficult. A direct approach would get me nowhere, so I started getting friendly with people, spending afternoons sipping tea and smoking and exchanging stories.”

“One of these old men was Hawoto Hatuma, almost one hundred years old at the time. He remembered his father telling him of great explosions in Tripoli Harbor in the year 1804, and great fires that kept the city excited for days. Those were of ships that burned in the harbor and resulted in many, many Americans sailors being killed. Those sailors were buried where they were found on the eastern shore of Tripoli. Hatuma then took me to the house of the aged…. Shaloum Akub,,…took me around and saw to it that I became a friend of the elder Jewish Community.”

“The stated purpose of the visits was to have my fortune told. Over cups of tea and smokes my fortune was told time and time again. A great friendship developed between us, and stories were exchanged till the Intrepid story came up, and here my interest was at its greatest. Most of the people had heard stories from their fathers and grandfathers of the bodies of the American sailors that were buried on the eastern shores of the harbor exactly where the English cemetery is located.”

A Maltese seaman of about eighty-five remembered his father and cousin telling the same stories, and said that there were five bodies buried where the Protestant cemetery is now. This was further confirmed by “akka,” which means in literal translation, ‘bedbug.’ Bakka was an astrologer and fortune teller. He was fairly sure that the British or Protestant cemetery was started because of the five unknown graves.”

“The next day after work, I decided to make another visit to the British Consulate. During the morning Mohammed Zenturi, Port Pilot, was asking me whether I had learned anything in my quest, and we talked about the Intrepid. During the conversation I learned that currents in the port area are directed often to the eastern shore. Since the present seawalls did not exist at the time of the Barbary Wars that could explain exactly how the bodies of the sailors could be washed to that location. In my mind, I became positive that the five unknown graves in the now Protestant cemetery were the graves I was looking for.”

“Thus I returned to the British Consulate. My first question was when and how did the British cemetery start. It turned out that, in 1830, the wife of the British Consul in Tripoli, Mrs. Warrington, died and that spot was chosen for burial. Why was that particular place chosen? After all, at the time it was a deserted, lonely place. The answer was, because there were already five graves there believed to be of Christians buried in the beginning of the century. I was extremely excited by then and said to the British Consul, ‘These five graves are the ones I am looking for. They are the five American sailors killed in the Intrepid explosion.’” [5]

Burchis then wrote a report that was forwarded to the American Embassy in Rome and lost in the turmoil of World War II. After the war Burchis approached the new American consul to Libya, Mr. Taft, who agreed with Burchis’ analysis and proclaimed the five graves at the Old Protestant Cemetery as being those of the men of the INTREPID.

Still not explained by Burchis and Taft, or Miller and Johnson, is how the men of the INTREPID, originally buried in the ground in two mass graves, one for the officers and one for the enlisted men, graves “one cable’s length” (200 yards) from the castle walls, ended up in five above ground crypts within the grounds of a walled cemetery over a mile away?

Although Burchis worked for the Italians, he fails to mention the fact that less than a decade before he began his quest, in 1930, an Italian army road work crew reportedly unearth the remains of five men who were identified as being Americans from the INTREPID and they were reburied in the cemetery.

We know this from three sources, including American historian Franklin Kemp, author of the book” Nest of Rebel Pirates,” who reportedly corresponded with an Italian army sergeant who told him of the excavation and relocation of these remains. [6]

That report coincides with the reference in Admiral Roughead’s determination that, “We do know these remains were buried by crewmember of the USS PHILADELPHIA; and the remains recovered during the 1930 road construction in the vicinity of the original burial were reburied in Tripoli’s Protestant Cemetery in four or five grave sites. No information on the quantity, condition, or identity of the remains was recorded during the reburial of these remains. Headstones erected over the grave sites however contain inscriptions referring to ‘American Sailor Intrepid.’ The fifth headstone was damaged and cannot be made out clearly but is believed to be part of the 1930 remains reburial.” [7.]

Besides the reports from Kemp and Roughead, we now have the confirmation from the Libyans, as Abdul Hakim Tawil conducted an extensive study of the cemetery graves and determined the cemetery walls were constructed by the British in 1830 around the already existing graves believed to be American sailors from the turn of the previous century. The wife and child of British consul Mr. Hanmer Warrington were the first buried there, and thus it was at first known as the English cemetery. [8]

Tawil’s authorative study “Secrets of the Old Protestant Cemetery” was published in Libya in 2008 and obtained by Chipp Reid, who had the relevant parts translated and reported [in the Final Burial Place of First USS INTREPID Crew – A Source Study, Intrepidproject.org] as saying, “The Old Protestant Cemetery remained a dusty, near-forgotten spot some two miles from the medina or old town of Tripoli until the 1920s when Italian road engineers came across the mass grave of the enlisted men of the Intrepid. According to Italian maps and accounts contained in ‘Secrets,’ the engineers found the bodies close to the water while they worked on constructing a landfill for the future Al-Fatah Highway. With help from the Libyans, who knew the general location of the Intrepid enlisted men's mass grave, the Italians exhumed the remains they found, identified them as American using bits of uniform and buttons, and interred the remains in a pair of empty Cemetery coffins.” [9]

So there are at least two separate grave sites of the men of the USS INTREPID, the original mass graves site south and east of the walls of the old castle fort, now under what is known as Martyrs Square, which the Italian road crew partially excavated, and those five or six crypts in the corner of the Old Protestant Cemetery, about a mile away.

And even though Mustapha Burchis’ local sources were hearsay, and didn’t mention the Italians relocating some of the remains, it appears that he was correct, and that the graves at Old Protestant Cemetery do indeed contain the remains of American sailors, most likely those of the crew of the INTREPID.

The cemetery crypts are clearly marked, and the original grave site should be located, and instead of conducting a nine month long academic study of the situation, the DOD and the Navy should just open the cemetery crypts, determine whether they were placed there in 1804 or 1930, see what’s in them, have a forensic study of the remains, take DNA samples to see if they can be positively identified.

If they are the remains of the American sailors from the INTREPID, as the research indicates and the historical markers claim, then they should be returned home and properly buried with full military honors.

1) Email from Renee Richardson to William E. Kelly, Jr. (September 7, 2008) http://remembertheintrepid.blogspot.com/2008/09/questions-on-repatriation-of-intrepid.html

2) Email from Renee Richardson to Somers Point Mayor Jack Glasser, SPHS President Sally Hastings and Walter Gregory (June 22, 2011) http://remembertheintrepid.blogspot.com/2011/12/response-to-navy-objections.html

3) Re: Roosevelt’s request. Chris Dickon, author of Foreign Burial of American War Dead (MacFarland, 2011, p. 135)

4) Miller, Lieutenant (J.G.) Arthur P., Jr., USNR U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, TRIPOLI GRAVES DISCOVERED Proceedings, April, 1950, pp. 373-377.

5) Burchis, Mustapha, and Johnson, Arthur M., Lost But Not Forgotten – Final Resting Place of Heroes of the Barbary Wars (Proceedings, U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, Sept. 1956, 969-973).Translation of Mr. Burchis’ narrative from the Arabic by Shafic Ibrahim.
http://remembertheintrepid.blogspot.com/2011/10/lost-but-not-forgotten-americans.html

6) 2004 Email from Dick Henkels to William E. Kelly, Jr. regarding Frank Kemp and Raymond Steelman. “During my last visit to Somers Point…I met Ray Steelman, who told me…there was a man named Frank Kemp who wrote an unpublished history of Somers Point. He claimed to have a letter from an Italian Sergeant who moved the body of Richard Somers in Libya.…”

7) Letter from Adml. Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations to William E. Kelly, Jr. (March 11, 2010) For complete letter see: http://remembertheintrepid.blogspot.com/2010/03/letter-from-chief-chief-of-naval.html

8) Re: Abdul Hakim Tawil’s request for information regarding Hanmer Warrington (March 31, 2001) http://genforum.genealogy.com/warrington/messages/188.html

9) Intrepidproject.org, Final Burial Place of First USS Intrepid Crew, A Source Stud, November 28, 2011, citing Abdu Hakim AlY Tawil, Secrets of the Old Protestant Cemetery (Tripoli, Libya: Libyan Center for Historical Studies, 2008), pp. 71-76. (pp. 122-136). (Translation by Prof. Hezi Brosh, United States Naval Academy).
http://www.intrepidproject.org/Final_Burial_Place_of_Crew_of_First_USS_Intrepid.html

Old Protestant Cemetery a Tourist Attraction

2012-01-19T12:30:00.000-08:00

LTC Robert “Kyle” "Carnahan hopes that the cemetery will one day become a tourist location in Tripoli for Americans wishing to pay their respects, and a place where they can learn more about the United States’ first military conflict abroad."

UNCLASSIFIED
InterCOMM
News for the DIA Community
Issue 35-08
(U) USDAO Tripoli Honors Fallen Sailors
By COL David Jesmer Jr. (Ret.)
DI/MNA-1

(U) When LTC Robert “Kyle” Carnahan arrived in Tripoli, Libya, in March 2006, he had no way of knowing that he would be handed an opportunity to honor U.S. military heroes for their sacrifices on the shores of Tripoli two centuries earlier.

(U) The Department of State opened a liaison office in 2004 shortly after diplomatic relations were re-established with Libya. Newly hired Libyan guards told the regional security officer Dan Mehan about a run-down cemetery known locally as the “American Cemetery.” Curious, Mehan visited the site and found an overgrown cemetery in disrepair containing among the graves a tombstone claiming to hold the remains of “an American sailor who gave his life in the explosion of the United States Ship Intrepid in Tripoli Harbour, September 4, 1804.” Unable to do anything else at the time, Mehan locked the gate to the cemetery to keep out vandals.

(U) Shortly after Carnahan arrived as the new defense attaché, Mehan showed him the site. Carnahan promptly arranged to meet with the Libyan chairman of the Department of Archaeology Dr. Giuma Anag and hoped to obtain permission to clean the site and gain official control of the cemetery for the U.S. government. Anag confirmed that five graves contained the remains of five to nine American sailors who had washed ashore following the premature explosion of the USS Intrepid in theTripoli harbor during the First Barbary War in 1804.

(U) Anag explained that the remains were disinterred during the late 19th century by Italian workers who were building a coastal road. The Italians reburied the remains in a local Protestant cemetery instead of the Italian Catholic cemetery, presuming that the American sailors from that period were likely Protestant. Although there are five marked graves, there is confusion about the exact number of Americans who were buried there as early reports claim that the graves contain more than one set of remains.

(U) Carnahan and Operations Coordinator CWO Ernest Brown cleaned up the cemetery and arranged for a Memorial Day ceremony in 2006, and again in 2007, to honor the Americans. Carnahan continued to research the history of the graves and has requested support from the Marine Corps and Navy. The Marine Corps provided a report from 1955 that concluded the remains were not of Marines, though several Marines died during the First Barbary War. The report also indicated that U.S. service members stationed at nearby Wheelus Air Force Base, which closed following Muammar Gadaffi’s coup in 1969, used to care for the cemetery, and delegations from U.S. ships visits routinely paid their respects. This lead to the conclusion that the neglect had occurred only during the past four decades.

(U) A U.S. Naval Forces Europe delegation plans to conduct a survey of the cemetery and discuss with Anag how best to preserve the site. One wall is slowly crumbling from erosion despite the efforts of the U.S. Defense Attache Office. Carnahan hopes that the cemetery will one day become a tourist location in Tripoli for Americans wishing to pay their respects, and a place where they can learn more about the United States’ first military conflict abroad.

September, 2008

Independent Report or Whitewash?

2012-01-14T06:36:00.000-08:00

Independent Report or Whitewash?

Rather than just conduct a normal POWMP expedition to Tripoli, identify the remains of the men of the Intrepid and repatriate them home, as they do with hundreds of American military personnel every year, the Senate-House Joint Armed Services Conference Committee instead ordered another study of the matter.

The part of the 2012 Defense Authorization Act that refers to the repatriation of Richard Somers and the men of the Intrepid is listed under Section 598 and refers to “the proposal to exhume, identify, and relocate the remains of the American sailors.”

Section 598. calls for the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Navy to conduct an “Evaluation of Issues Affecting Disposition of remains of American Sailors Killed in the Explosion of the Ketch USS INTREPID in Tripoli Harbor on September 4, 1804.”

Section (a) calls for the Sec. Defense and Navy to issue a report with their recommendations in 9 months, or next September - “(a) Evaluation required – Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this act.”

Not only do they postpone the repatriation of these men for another nine months, they order the Secretary of Defense and the Navy to conduct the evaluation after they have already expressed their reluctance to do so, guaranteeing that this will not be an independent and honest report.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has already been to the Intrepid graves at the Old Protestant Cemetery and personally discussed the situation there with the Libyans, who say that they already have plans for the preservation of the cemetery graves and the conduct of regular formal ceremonies on future occasions, as well as develop it into a tourist destination.

That the military has no plans or intention to repatriate these men is clearly stated in a September, 2008 report which says, "A U.S. Naval Forces Europe delegation plans to conduct a survey of the cemetery and discuss with (then Libyan Dir. of Antiquities Dr.) Anag how best to preserve the site...(in)... hopes that the cemetery will one day become a tourist location in Tripoli for Americans wishing to pay their respects, and a place where they can learn more about the United States’ first military conflict abroad."

If this is the case, then the key person responsible for the evaluation and report - the Secretary of Defense, has already made up his mind and has developed plans for the preservation of the graves, using it as a tourist attraction, and is not considering the feasibility of the repatriation of the remains of these men. The end result, at least in regards to the cemetery remains, appears to have been already predetermined and their report will be an official whitewash.

The Secretary of Defense – Leon Panetta, and the Secretary of the Navy – Raymond Edwin “Ray” Malbus, Jr., the report says, “shall conduct an evaluation of the following issues with respect to the disposition of the remains of American sailors killed in the explosion of the Ketch USS INTREPID in Tripoli Harbor on September 4, 1804:”

That the military itself, after already determining the Tripoli cemetery "is the final resting place" for those men, is made responsible for the evaluation, research and writing of the report reflects on what can be expected to be the final recomendation, and that's the same as all of the other official military reports and recomendations, not to repatriate these remains.

The three issues that are to be included in the evaluation are “i.The feasibility of recovery of remains based on historical information, factual consideration, costs, and precedential effect.”

These issues are already well known, as the historical information has been well documented, as are the factual considerations, costs for repatriation ($100,000) and precedential effect (negligible, with few other case studies). The cost of this new study will probably be as much as it would take to just identify and repatriate these men.

The other issues are also known, before the evaluation even begins, including “ii, The ability to make identifications of the remains...and facts that would have to exist for positive scientific identification of the remains,” since the forensic sciences have evolved to create a high probably of identification of the remains of the American crew of the Intrepid from any other remains in the area, and a positive identification of the three officers through DNA analysis of the bones. This analysis of the remains in the cemetery crypts should be made a part of the evaluation and the results can be included in the final report.

As demonstrated by the positive identification of the remains of the men of the Civil War era submarine Hunley, modern forensic science techniques make it possible to identify such remains even though they are over a century old.

The third and final aspect of this report refers to, “iii. The diplomatic and inter-governmental issues that would have to be addressed in order to provide for exhuming and removing the remains consistent with the sovereignty of the Libyan Government.”

This is also not foreseen to be a problem since the previous government had already agreed to allow the excavation and repatriation. While the new government has yet to be installed, the current interim government caretakers have are apparently open to whatever the United States government wants, and have followed their requests in regards to the restoration of the cemetery.

The only problem it seems, is the reluctance of the Department of Defense and the US Navy to undertake the repatriation, and to make them responsible for the conduct of the new evaluation will only result in another determination that the final resting place for the men of the Intrepid is right where they are in Tripoli.

They should just conduct a normal forensic study of the remains in the marked crypts at Old Protestant Cemetery, locate the original grave site under Martyrs Square, excavate it and repatriate the remains home.

REPORT on US DOD Plans to use INTREPID graves at cemetery for memorial services and as a tourist attraction:

UNCLASSIFIED
InterCOMM
News for the DIA Community
Issue 35-08
(U) USDAO Tripoli Honors Fallen Sailors
By COL David Jesmer Jr. (Ret.)
DI/MNA-1

(U) When LTC Robert “Kyle” Carnahan arrived in Tripoli, Libya, in March 2006, he had no way of knowing that he would be handed an opportunity to honor U.S. military heroes for their sacrifices on the shores of Tripoli two centuries earlier.

(U) The Department of State opened a liaison office in 2004 shortly after diplomatic relations were re-established with Libya. Newly hired Libyan guards told the regional security officer Dan Mehan about a run-down cemetery known locally as the “American Cemetery.” Curious, Mehan visited the site and found an overgrown cemetery in disrepair containing among the graves a tombstone claiming to hold the remains of “an American sailor who gave his life in the explosion of the United States Ship Intrepid in Tripoli Harbour, September 4, 1804.” Unable to do anything else at the time, Mehan locked the gate to the cemetery to keep out vandals.

(U) Shortly after Carnahan arrived as the new defense attaché, Mehan showed him the site. Carnahan promptly arranged to meet with the Libyan chairman of the Department of Archaeology Dr. Giuma Anag and hoped to obtain permission to clean the site and gain official control of the cemetery for the U.S. government. Anag confirmed that five graves contained the remains of five to nine American sailors who had washed ashore following the premature explosion of the USS Intrepid in theTripoli harbor during the First Barbary War in 1804.

(U) Anag explained that the remains were disinterred during the late 19th century by Italian workers who were building a coastal road. The Italians reburied the remains in a local Protestant cemetery instead of the Italian Catholic cemetery, presuming that the American sailors from that period were likely Protestant. Although there are five marked graves, there is confusion about the exact number of Americans who were buried there as early reports claim that the graves contain more than one set of remains.

(U) Carnahan and Operations Coordinator CWO Ernest Brown cleaned up the cemetery and arranged for a Memorial Day ceremony in 2006, and again in 2007, to honor the Americans. Carnahan continued to research the history of the graves and has requested support from the Marine Corps and Navy. The Marine Corps provided a report from 1955 that concluded the remains were not of Marines, though several Marines died during the First Barbary War. The report also indicated that U.S. service members stationed at nearby Wheelus Air Force Base, which closed following Muammar Gadaffi’s coup in 1969, used to care for the cemetery, and delegations from U.S. ships visits routinely paid their respects. This lead to the conclusion that the neglect had occurred only during the past four decades.

(U) A U.S. Naval Forces Europe delegation plans to conduct a survey of the cemetery and discuss with Anag how best to preserve the site. One wall is slowly crumbling from erosion despite the efforts of the U.S. Defense Attache Office. Carnahan hopes that the cemetery will one day become a tourist location in Tripoli for Americans wishing to pay their respects, and a place where they can learn more about the United States’ first military conflict abroad.

September, 2008

The Unfinished Mission - 200 Years on Station

2012-01-13T02:34:00.000-08:00

The Unfinished Mission - 200 Years on Station in Tripoli
By William Kelly

Pirates were marauding American merchant ships off Africa, holding the passengers and crews for ransom and demanding millions of dollars in tribute.

Sound familiar? Well that was the situation two centuries ago when some reluctant Congressman suggested the ransom and tribute be paid and others said that a navy should be formed to fight the pirates. As the American public took up the cry “Millions for defense but not a cent for tribute,” Congress approved the funds for a new Navy.

Richard Somers, Henry Wadsworth, Joseph Israel and other young men enlisted in the Navy to defend the honor of the new nation and fight the pirates. On a secret, special nighttime mission that could have altered the course of the war, the three young offices and ten men of the Intrepid died in an explosion in Tripoli Harbor on September 4, 1804. Their suicide mission failed and their bodies were recovered and buried in two mass graves “on the shores of Tripoli.”

Now, after two centuries of trying, the families of the Intrepid’s commander and first officer believe the recent revolution in Libya presents an opportunity to repatriate their remains home, but there’s fierce opposition from the U.S. Navy.

Deployed behind the lines, boots on the ground in Tripoli, the men of the USS Intrepid are near the epicenter of the Libyan revolution, and even though they’ve been dead for over two hundred years the Navy maintains they are still fulfilling a vital service.

The Navy says these men are still needed, that they are in a strategic position, and their mere presence gives the Untied States a foothold in the new Libya, a beach head that provides insight into the new Libya and a humanitarian, non-threatening excuse to deal with the new government.

It also gives us an opportunity to reflect on what’s occurred in the history of United States and Libyan relations over the course of the past two centuries and how we can forge a new path of peace and prosperity together.

When the rebel forces liberated Tripoli they gathered at what Gadhafi called Green Square which they renamed Martyrs Square in honor of those who died in the fighting, not just against Gadhafi but against the Italian occupation and other wars. Some see irony in that the only real martyrs buried near Martyrs Square are American naval heroes who have been there for over two centuries.

The POW/MP office responsible for the return of American military casualties from abroad say it is the oldest case on record, but since they aren’t actually missing, as their location is known, they’re not MIA - Missing in Action, and a Navy responsibility.

Larry Greer, a public relations officer with the POW/MP office in Washington DC said: “In regards to Lt. Somers and the burial of his remains and others in Libya...the issue of whether or not Lt. Somers’ remains will be moved, now or in the future, is a Navy issue and the Navy has told us they are not in any way interested in moving his remains.”

Richard Somers’ extended family, originally from Somers Point, New Jersey, have always requested and expected his remains to eventually be brought home, and they haven’t forgotten about him, although they sometimes think that US government and the Navy have. The early efforts of the family have been enjoined over the years by citizens and officials from Somers Point, the town’s historical society and veterans groups, as well as the extended family of Somers’ first officer Henry Wadsworth, the uncle of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

The New Jersey legislature and the United States House of Representatives have officially called for the repatriation of the remains of these men, and the US Senate considered the matter as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act, but instead elected to have another study and report done on the feasibility of repatriation.

The only opposition to repatriation comes from the Navy’s top brass, the commanders who say that the mission of the men of the Intrepid is not yet over, and based on their studies and reports, they made the official determination that the final resting place for those men is right where they are.

In March, 2010, Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations, wrote, “Since these remains are associated with the loss of the INTREPID, Tripoli’s Protestant Cemetery has been officially recognized by the Department of the Navy as the final resting place for her crew. My staff is working with the Department of State and the American Embassy in Libya to ascertain the condition of the graves and what actions can be taken towards their long term care.” His replacement, Admiral Greenert has adopted that policy.

Old Protestant Cemetery before restoration

Old Protestant Cemetery was officially created in 1830 around some already existing graves, some believe to be those of American sailors. It also includes the graves of about a hundred others, mainly European diplomats and their families, many of whom have been repatriated to their home countries or elsewhere as the cemetery did not seem to be a secure place. Reports indicate that around 1930, during the Italian occupation of Libya, a road work crew uncovered the remains of five men of the Intrepid and reburied them at the cemetery.

These graves are clearly marked, and the cemetery is now secure, but the Admiral’s determination that it is the final resting place for these men only refers to the cemetery graves and does not include the original grave site outside the castle walls at Martyrs Square, where some historians believe the remains of other members of the Intrepid crew are still buried in an unmarked mass grave.

Marty’s Square is the Times Square of Libya, where people gather to celebrate and protest, and is from the ramparts of the old castle fort where great battles were fought, and from where Benito Mussolini and Mummar Gadaffi gave speeches.

James Fenimore Cooper wrote “...The ten seamen were buried on the beach outside the town near the walls; while the three officers were interred in the same grave, on the plain beyond, or cable’s length [200 yards] to the southward and eastward of the earth. Small stones were placed at the four corners of the last grave, to mark its site; but they were shortly after removed by the Turks, who refused to let what they conceived to be a Christian monument, disfigure their land.”

And there they remained, in the shadow of the walls of the old castle fort, until the Italian work crew uncovered five of them and reburied them at the Old Protestant Cemetery. Since they were buried in two distinct graves, one for the three officers and the other for the ten seamen, the five remains uncovered by the Italians must have been from the lot of 10 seamen, leaving five seamen in their original grave, and the three officers still buried in their original grave.

There have been many efforts to repatriate the remains of these men over the years, all unsuccessful because of some political reason or other, but today, the opposition comes only from the US Navy.

The Navy’s reasons not to repatriate these men are many, and include cost – estimated to be $100,000, a drop in the bucket of the $600 billion National Defense Act. They are also afraid that this repatriation will set a precedent for many other similar requests, but Chris Dickon, author of the book Foreign Burial of American War Dead (MacFarland, 2011) says there are only a few other cases and none of the families are requesting repatriation, as the Somers and Wadsworth families are.

Although it isn’t explained in the CNO’s official determination regarding the cemetery graves, the upkeep of the cemetery site provides for close cooperation between the Libyans and the US embassy personnel and the Navy, giving them a non-threatening issue to discuss and begin a cooperation that could lead to other joint projects.

While this worked with the Gadhafi government as well, it will become paramount to encourage the early and close cooperation between the US officials and the new government of Libya.

Joan Polaschik, an assistant to Mr. Gene Cretz, the American Ambassador to Libya, wrote, “regarding the Libyan government’s ongoing efforts to renovate and restore this historic property, the Libyan government undertook this effort as part of an overall plan to redevelop the seaside area immediately surrounding the cemetery. At our request, the Libyan government limited its work to the cemetery’s exterior walls, and commissioned a detailed study of the interior. Based on this study, the Libyan government has developed plans to restore the grave markers.”

Old Protestant Cemetery after restoration.

“Based on our review of the plans and discussion with the Libyan Department of Archeology and Antiquities,” Polaschik explained, “we are confident that the Libyan government will undertake this restoration in way that is historically and culturally appropriate, and in accordance with the respect due to U.S. service members. Any interior elements of the graves will not be touched. It appears that the Libyan government is prepared to pay for all of the restoration work. However, it’s unclear to what extent the Libyan government plans to pay for future maintenance, or whether it would be willing to create and/or pay for any signage or plaques explaining the significance of the site. We hope to meet with Libyan officials to clarify these issues.”

But the Tripoli cemetery, unlike the American military cemeteries at Flanders and Normandy, is not under the care of the American Battle Monuments Commission or the United States government.

As Polaschik noted, “It’s also unclear to what extent the U.S. government will be able to pay for or support any future maintenance. After the embassy confirmed that cemetery is indeed U.S. diplomatic property, we launched an intensive effort to find a U.S. government agency that will be responsible for the cemetery’s continued care. Unfortunately, no one has stepped up to the plate yet, and the embassy has been instructed to do the best it can. We plan to nominate the cemetery for inclusion in the Secretary of State’s Register of Culturally Significant Properties, and hopefully could provide a source of funding and oversight for this very special site....”

This new cooperation between the United State and Libya has been exhibited in the renovation of the cemetery by the Libyans and the recent visit to Tripoli by the Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who stopped by the cemetery to pay his respects at the graves of the men of the Intrepid.

Eventually however, the relationship between the United States and the new government of Libya will be sealed, and the mission of the men of the Intrepid will be over. While the historic markers at the cemetery can serve as a tourist attraction, and a place for future Memorial Day ceremonies, the wishes of the families should be honored and the remains of the men of the Intrepid should eventually be returned home.

As James F. Cooper wrote over a century ago, “Here, then, lie the remains of Somers, and his two gallant friends; and it might be well to instruct the commander of some national cruiser to search for their bones, that they might be finally incorporated with the dust of their native land. Their identity would at once be established by the number of the skeletons, and the friends of the deceased might find a melancholy consolation in being permitted to drop a tear over the spot in which they would be finally entombed.”

Just as John Paul Jones was repatriated home from his Paris grave and the convicted Lockerbe bomber received a hero’s homecoming in Tripoli, the men of the Intrepid should eventually be repatriated to their native land, welcomed home by their families and friends and given a proper burial with full military honors.

Old Protestant Cemetery - Tripoli

2012-01-12T02:55:00.000-08:00

New free Libyan Flags fly above Tripoli's Old Protestant Cemetery where the graves of American Naval Heroes are located.

The Old Protestant Cemetery before the recent restoration. It is located just across the road from Tripoli Harbor, about two miles east of the old castle fort and Martyrs Square. The walls were built by the British in 1830 around some preexisting graves believed to be American navy sailors killed in 1804.

Based on the research of a local Libyan, Triopli harbor master Mustapha Burchis, the United States ambassador and U.S. Navy officially recognized five crypts at the Old Protestant Cemetery as those of the men of the USS Intrepid. The captain of the USS Spokane and the mayor of Tripoli Yousef Karamanli participated in a ceremony that also included the British Army and a Scottish regiment of bagpipers. The mayor was a direct descendant and namesake of the Tripoli prince of the pirates who was the first to declare war against the United States by chopping down the flagpole outside the residence of the American counsel. He did so because the United States had ceased paying tribute to stop the piracy. At that ceremony they raised an American flag and a placed an historical marker before each grave that reads:

HERE LIES AN AMERICAN SAILOR
WHO GAVE HIS LIFE IN THE
EXPLOSION OF THE USS SHIP INTREPID
IN TRIPOLI HARBOR
SEPTEMBER 2, 1804
(Sic Actual date: Sept. 4)

United States Ambassador Mr. Gene Cretz and US Military Attache Brian Linvill place American flags at the graves of American naval heroes at Old Protestant Cemetery on recent Memorial Day.

From 1950 until 1969 the cemetery was maintained by the Officers Wives Club of nearby Wheelus Air Force base. Neglected under the Gadhafi regime, it fell into disrepair and was overgrown with weeds when discovered by two New Jersey tourists in 1977.

Their reports led to an earlier effort to repatriate the remains of the Intrepid crew.

Inside the cemetery shortly before or during the restoration.

The cemetery after restoration.

US Secretary of Defense visits the cemetery after it was restored.

Sec. Defense Penetta places Challenge Coin on the grave of Intrepid crewman.

AMVETS Commander Supports Repatriation

2012-01-11T00:16:00.000-08:00

The Park at Martyrs Square Tripoli (Photo by Nuri Twebti)

AMVETS NATIONAL CMDR. GARY L. FRY DECRIES FAILURE OF CONGRESS, SEN. McCAIN, TO REPATRIATE FIRST NAVY COMBAT CASUALTIES

"Failure of leadership!"

http://www.amvets.org/

Soon after his election as commander of America’s most inclusive major veterans service organization, AMVETS National Commander Gary L. Fry met with town leaders in Somers Point, N.J., and learned of the ongoing efforts to repatriate the town’s namesake, Master Commandant Richard Somers, and his 12 fellow sailors lost in 1804 during the First Barbary War.

http://www.amvets.org/pressroom/PressReleases/2012/Navy-combat-casualties.html

AMVETS National Cmdr. Gary L. Fry decries failure of Congress, Sen. McCain, to repatriate first Navy combat casualties

Soon after his election as commander of America’s most inclusive major veterans service organization, AMVETS National Commander Gary L. Fry met with town leaders in Somers Point, N.J., and learned of the ongoing efforts to repatriate the town’s namesake, Master Commandant Richard Somers, and his 12 fellow sailors lost in 1804 during the First Barbary War.

The 13 men of the USS Intrepid, commandos and precursors to the modern Navy SEALs, were killed during a daring attempt to destroy the fleet in Tripoli Harbor. The following day, the remains of Somers and his crew were buried in four or five mass graves, which the Somers Point Historical Society has long maintained is an inappropriate final resting place for the Navy’s first combat casualties. U.S. Congressmen Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., and Mike Rogers, R-Michigan, agreed, and pushed for an inclusion in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 (NDAA) of a provision requiring the Department of Defense to repatriate the Sailors’ remains with stipulations. However, at the eleventh hour, Sen. John McCain changed the final language of the legislation in favor of a continuing review of the issue.

Cmdr. Fry called the setback an unacceptable failure of leadership. “As Americans, we have a fundamental responsibility to all our men and women in uniform to ensure they are properly accounted for,” said Fry. “I salute the Somers Point Historical Society, the Intrepid Project, and Congressmen LoBiondo and Rogers for honoring our Armed Forces’ ethos to never leave a comrade behind. AMVETS will continue to support them in this important fight.”

Fry also echoed the belief of the Somers Point Historical Society and the Intrepid Project, which has spearheaded the repatriation effort, that the recent political upheaval in Libya has created a window of opportunity, albeit a rapidly closing one, to recover the remains of the USS Intrepid Sailors.

“After more than 200 years of remaining vigilant, never have the families of Master Commandant Somers and his crew been so close to reaching a positive resolution in this matter,” said Fry. “Together with other leading veterans' advocates in Washington, D.C., AMVETS will remain committed to ensuring we do not lose the opportunity to bring these valiant warriors home to our shores where they belong.”

About AMVETS:
A leader since 1944 in preserving the freedoms secured by America’s armed forces, AMVETS provides support for veterans and the active military in procuring their earned entitlements, as well as community service and legislative reform that enhances the quality of life for this nation’s citizens and veterans alike. AMVETS is one of the largest congressionally-chartered veteran’s service organizations in the United States, and includes members from each branch of the military including the National Guard and Reserves. For more information, visit www.amvets.org. Information about the Healing Heroes program can be found atwww.amvetsnsf.org/heroes.html.

National Commander - Gary Fry
http://www.amvets.org/about_us/bios.html

Gary L.Fry of Sugar Grove, Pa., was elected to serve as AMVETS National Commander for 2011-2012 during the 67th annual AMVETS National Convention in St. Louis, Missouri.

Fry reviously served as AMVETS First Vice Commander where his responsibilities included membership outreach and representing AMVETS National Headquarters at veterans’ events around the country.

Fry is a life member of AMVETS and served as commander of Sugar Grove, Pa. AMVETS Post No. 50 for nine years, Department of Pennsylvania Commander, served on the National Long Range planning committee and various other committees. Gary is also a former member of the Pennsylvania State Veterans Commission and is a former president of the Pennsylvania War Veterans Council. Fry still serves on the advisory board of the Pennsylvania Soldier’s and Sailor’s Home.

Fry served in the United States Army for three years including a tour in Vietnam where he served as a squad leader..

Now a retired electronic instrument technician, Gary has been married to his wife Judy for 41 years, has a son and daughter, and 3 grandsons.

Commander Fry's Pearl Harbor Message
http://americanveteranmagazine.blogspot.com/2011/12/commander-frys-pearl-harbor-message.html

COMMANDER GARY FRY'S REMARKS ON PEARL HARBOR

Commander Gary Fry will observe the 70th anniversary of the "day that will live in infamy" in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The following are his remarks.

It is a privilege to be here today to honor the men and women who fought and gave their lives during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Forever entrenched in our minds as “a day that will live in infamy,” the United States was attacked, and the strength of our nation was tested seventy years ago today.

The sky over Oahu was clear and blue that Sunday morning and America awoke in peace. But at 7:55 a.m., this tranquil scene was shattered as Japanese aircraft bombarded the Naval outpost of a dormant Pacific Fleet. Targeting the battleships moored in Pearl Harbor, the enemy planes struck hard and fast. They bombed the Navy air bases at Ford Island and Kaneohe Bay, the Marine airfield at Ewa and the Army Air Corps fields at Bellows, Wheeler and Hickam.

The attack was over in less than two hours, but the devastation was overwhelming. Twenty-one of more than ninety ships in the U.S. Pacific Fleet were damaged or sunk. More than three hundred aircraft were hit or destroyed. But most overwhelming of all was the loss of more than 2,400 lives and the injuries inflicted on 1,200 others.

The sinking of the battleship USS Arizona remains the most recognized symbol of that tragic day. Today, more than 1,100 men are still entombed within her rusting hulk. As an organization born of World War II, AMVETS has made it a point to honor those heroic individuals for their sacrifice. Our efforts to raise the necessary funds to complete the USS Arizona memorial and, later, the wall bearing the names of those aboard who died, testifies to this ongoing commitment.

And while much of the world has yet to fully realize the peace and freedom for which these men gave their lives, we remain determined that they shall not have died in vain. The Japanese struck a savage and treacherous blow at our peace-loving nation on December 7, 1941. The attack triggered a global war of unprecedented proportions and forever changed the course of world history. Our enemies were unaware at the time that their attempts to weaken us brought them only short-term success. Responding to the attack, Americans joined together in an all-out effort to win the war, which we thankfully have not had to repeat since. It was this unbreakable unity, sacrifice, and national resolve that ultimately became our most effective weapons.

On that fateful Sunday afternoon, an editorial appeared on the front page of the Honolulu Star Extra, which foretold the role of our national unity. It stated, “In this crisis, every difference of race, creed and color will be submerged in the one desire and determination to play the part that Americans always play in crisis.”

Today not only marks the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but also an unhappy yet inevitable milestone for the veterans’ community. Today, the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association will observe this day in history for the final time as an official organization. Congressionally chartered in 1958 with more than 18,000 members, the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association now numbers less than 3,000, and most members are in their 90’s. Because of dwindling numbers, the Association has announced it will be forced to forever close its doors at the end of the month. This serves to remind us all of the fleeting opportunity we have to, honor, celebrate, engage, and learn from this vanishing generation of heroes, our greatest generation. They are national treasures all, and we must make every effort to appreciate these heroes among us.

Finally, I ask you to keep our servicemen and women in your thoughts and prayers throughout this holiday season and beyond. With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan coming to a close, it is our duty – not as AMVETS, veterans, or veterans’ advocates – but as Americans, to ensure we provide for the needs of our newest generation of returning war fighters. We must give them every opportunity to pursue their goals and dreams: to further their education, to find meaningful and lasting civilian employment, to receive the care and treatment they need for service-connected injuries and disabilities, and to provide for their own families once they return home. This is our charge, and we will not fail them.

With our nation and her allies challenged by those who wish to do us harm and threaten our very way of life, it is our responsibility to uphold the principles upon which America was founded. We can do our part by supporting those who are being called upon to defend these principles, carrying forth the legacy of heroism demonstrated at Pearl Harbor. As Americans, we are able to choose freedom because of the bravery of those who made the ultimate sacrifice on this day 70 years ago.

We are proud to honor them. May we never forget their noble sacrifices for generations of Americans who followed. Thank you, and may God bless America.

[Thanks to Fred Vinyard and Mayor Jack Glasser for talking to Commander Fry and to Fred and Sally Hastings for the heads up on this story]

The recently restored Old Protestant Cemetery
The Free Libyan Flag flys over the graves of the American Naval Heroes in Tripoli
(Photo by Nuri Twebti)

The Old Protestant Cemetery Today photos by Nuri Twebti

2012-01-07T00:24:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to Nuri Twebti for providing us with these photos.

Precedents for Repatriation

2011-12-31T02:04:00.000-08:00

Precedents for Exhumation and Repatriation – By William Kelly (Billkelly3@gmail.com)

“Conference Report on the National Defense Authorization Act. Section 598. Evaluation of Issues Affecting Disposition of remains of American Sailors Killed in the Explosion of the Ketch USS INTREPID in Tripoli Harbor on September 4, 1804. (a) Evaluation required – Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this act, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Navy shall conduct an evaluation of the following issues with respect to the disposition of the remains of American sailors killed...: i. The feasibility of recovery of remains based on historical information, factual consideration, costs, and precedential effect....”

The precedential effect -

The "precedential" effects they are talking about are the numbers of similar cases that the Navy will have to deal with if the precedent is set by this repatriation, and the answer is, according to Chris Dickon, author of The Foreign Burial of American War Dead (MacFarland, 2011), very few.
(See Note from Chris below). There are only a handful of similar cases, and they are not identified remains, so their families, unlike the Somers and Wadsworth families, are not seeking their return. So it is an unfounded assumption by the military that if this goes through they will be swamped with similar requests.

On the other hand, there are plenty of historical precedents to support the repatriation.

Shortly after the Libyan revolution reached Tripoli, and Green Square became Martyrs Square, not far away a convoy of armed militiamen pulled up to the front door of a local mosque where, with picks and shovels, they dug up the 100 year old remains of a revered Sufi saint and made off with it.

The same act was repeated many times throughout Libya as orthodox Islamic extremists try to impose their will on the Sufis and other moderate Islamists who revere their saints. While the Tripoli Military Council claims no laws have been broken, they defer to the religious council to see if it is a sin to bury saints in mosques, as the extremists claim.

In Sirte, at the same time, the graves of Mommar Gadhafi’s mother and family are desecrated, as the lack of legal or civil authority has allowed for violent crimes to be committed with no retribution.

The grave of Gadhafi's mother was vandalized and desecrated.

To attack and vandalize graves is apparently a natural and legal act in Libya, which places the graves of the Americans naval heroes at Old Protestant Cemetery in Tripoli in a precarious jeopardy even though the Navy had officially declared that is to be their final resting place.

The cemetery itself, although walled, is not far from the threatening tide waters of Tripoli harbor, and is also surrounded by a major highway and encroaching development that has claimed much of the area. According to a Libyan study of the cemetery, more than half of those who have been buried there over the past hundred years have been removed and reburied at more secure locations.

Nevertheless, the Navy has declared the cemetery as the “final resting place” for the American naval heroes, although a new evaluation has been ordered by Congress to determine the feasibility of their repatriation. As part of that order historical precedents of similar repatriations has been requested, so I’ve compiled some of them here.

The first major precedent is that of John Paul Jones, the hero of the American revolution who was on a special mission when he died in Paris. He was unceremoniously buried, without any American participation, in a lost crypt that was only located because of an inquisitive diplomat.

July 1905 - the body of John Paul Jones is Repatriated from Paris

President Theodore Roosevelt ordered an American warship to retrieve his remains and John Paul Jones was reburied, with much fanfare, at the chapel of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis. Roosevelt and others used the occasion to give speeches and promote the mission of the US Navy.

In 1930, during the Italian occupation of Libya, the Italian army uncovered the remains of five of the Intrepid sailors while building a road and the plaza that is now Martyrs Square, and reburied them in crypts at the Old Protestant Cemetery. In 1938, at the request of President Franklin Roosevelt, they were discovered there by Tripoli harbor masters Mustapha Burchis, and based on Burchis’ research, the US Navy held a ceremony at the cemetery in 1949, and placed markers on their graves.

After World War I and World War II the families of those who died in combat abroad were given the choice of leaving them where they were buried on the battlefield, having them reburied nearby at an American military cemetery maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) or repatriated home to be reburied at a veterans cemetery. The ABMC maintains a large cemetery in Tunisia, 200 miles from Tripoli, where many World War II veterans are buried, but the ABMC refuses to assume responsibility for the maintenance of the graves of the Intrepid sailors in Tripoli.

The exhumation and movement of historic remains that have been laid to rest is not uncommon, as President Kennedy’s grave at Arlington was moved in a secret night time military operation in 1967, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers was opened so the remains could be DNA tested at the request of a family. When the missing soldier was positively identified, his remains were removed and reburied in a marked grave, just as those in Tripoli should be tested and moved.

Stephen Decatur, one of the heroes of Tripoli, had commanded the Intrepid on the mission that scuttled the frigate USS Philadelphia. Decatur was popular at home and had considered running for President before he was killed in a duel of honor and buried in Philadelphia. His widow however, continued living at their home in Washington near the White House that is now a National Historic Landmark. When she died Mrs. Decatur was buried in a small grave near her home that later became an impediment to the expansion of a major university, so her remains were exhumed and reburied next to her husband in Philadelphia.

The remains of the three officers and ten men of the Intrepid in Tripoli can be positively identified, as modern technology has made that possible. When the wreck of the Henley, a Civil War era submarine was discovered and recovered, it was found to contain the remains of a number of sailors who were positively identified and reburied with full military honors over a hundred years after they died.

More recently, the old Italian Cemetery in Tripoli was renovated after many of the graves were desecrated, and thousands of remains were exhumed and reburied or repatriated to Italy and other countries. Among them were 72 Americans who had died in Tripoli, relations of US servicemen assigned to Wheelus Air Force Base. At that time – in the fifties and sixties, the US government and US military did not pay for the return of remains of the relations of servicemen who died while stationed abroad. But the US government in 2007, shortly after the resumption of diplomatic relations with Libya, did it all at once, repatriating 72 in one day.

The POWMP/Accounting Command is responsible for accounting for the remains of all of those US military personnel who are lost in combat, and that includes the men of the USS Intrepid. They search for, locate and repatriate the remains of hundreds of American combat heroes every year, often without any publicity or public notice, and they are very good at what they do.

Now the Senate/House Armed Services Committee Conference has ordered an evaluation and report on the feasibility of repatriating the remains of American naval heroes in Tripoli, a study that many believe is designed to stall the repatriation effort, whitewash the truth and leave them where they lie, in a broken down cemetery and in unmarked graves under a parking lot at Martrys Square.

But any study of the history and the precedents for such action clearly indicate that repatriation of the remains of these men from Tripoli can be done, must be done, and is a mission that the US military, however reluctant, can and should do.

Note - Chris Dickon writes: “Now that The Foreign Burial of American War Dead (McFarland, 2011) is published, we can get a better view of the context that surrounds the effort to seek the repatriation of the remains of Richard Somers, if not some or all of the other crewmembers of the USS Intrepid.”

“Because the burials in Tripoli took place long before it became official policy that all Americans killed abroad had the right of return, there might be some concern that your efforts, if successful, would open the floodgates of requests for returns and set a difficult precedent. But when we look at what we know, that doesn’t seem like a probable scenario.”

“If the Navy’s concern is opening up a Pandora’s box of reclamation requests, there are no other known navy folks before the world wars who cold be reclaimed except 2 in Nicaragua, 30 in Menorca, Spain, from the Mid 1800s with no discernible living relatives, and the 1812 sailors in England and Canada are only bones mixed with other bones.”

“After Somers et al., the next group of Americans to be buried permanently abroad were killed in the War of 1812. Though every one of them that we know about can be named (along with other information) none of them could be exhumed and returned.”

“Commander William Allen and Midshipman Richard Delphy of the USS Argus were buried with great ceremony in Plymouth, England and no doubt remain there still, but the location of their graves was lost long ago. Not far from Plymouth, 271 named Americans rest in a common grave at Dartmoor Prison and it would not be possible to find the remains of a single one of them. The same holds for a common grave in Halifax, Nova Scotia with approx. 185 named Americans.”

“I think it’s important to note that in all three cases these burials have modern day advocates and ceremonies for those interred. In Plymouth, the tombstones of Allen and Delphy are cemented into the doorway of the historic Prysten House, and memorialized each year by citizens of the UK and US. The cemetery at Dartmoor is attended to by British citizens, the American Daughters of 1812, and occasional visits by US military members. The Halifax cemetery includes a memorial provided by the US Veterans Administration and is attended to by American and Canadian interests.”

“We also know of approximately 32 non-combat burials of American seamen in Spain and Nicaragua. Though each can be named, there is no suggestion that any of them have contemporary family. In some cases, I tried to find such with no success. There are believed to be more such burials around the world, but none have been found as of now. And there are three casualties of the US Civil War buried somewhere unknown in Cherbourg, France.”

“As to precedent: The recovery of John Paul Jones in 1906 is a wonderful story with a distinctly political undertone, a marketing ploy by Teddy Roosevelt as he sought public support for an improved navy and not incidentally an occasion for the US and France to celebrate their friendship. We know that Franklin Roosevelt had a similar impulse re. Somers in 1938, but it was lost to the coming war.”

“And there is a second precedent. In 1987, American bone sets from the War of 1812 were found buried at Fort Erie, Ontario and repatriated amid great ceremony between the two nations to the national cemetery at Bath, NY.”

“Somers et al. have not had the benefit or honor of these kinds of attention and practices. I think that a decided attempt at their repatriation might serve to open up a positive understanding of the long history between the US and Libya, and might have a Teddy Roosevelt kind of effect, but I doubt that it would set a precedent that anyone could take advantage of.”

UPI & Oman Tribune - World News

2011-12-27T00:49:00.000-08:00

These articles are important because they take the story international.

They were translated into Arabic and read by Arabs all over the world; it is probably their first introduction to the issues, and they are probably amused by the idea of American suicide bombers.

Remains of 1804 crew may stay in Libya

United Press International
Published: Dec. 26, 2011 at 5:04 PM
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/12/26/Remains-of-1804-crew-may-stay-in-Libya/UPI-73691324937068/?spt=hs&or=tn

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Congress is pressuring the Defense Department to repatriate the bodies of a U.S. Navy crew that perished off the shore of Libya 207 years ago.

The battle to bring the remains of Capt. Richard Somers of New Jersey and his 12 shipmates has been going on for decades, Stars and Stripes reported.

Now, in the wake of the uprising in Libya, Congress is again requesting the Navy repatriate the bodies.

Somers' mission in 1804 was to sail the explosive-filled Intrepid into Tripoli harbor and blow it up amid a fleet of pirate ships.

However, the Intrepid exploded in the harbor before reaching its target, for unknown reasons.
"When these bodies washed ashore, some pretty horrible stuff happened. They were drug through the streets, fed to dogs, and worse than that, and then thrown into a mass grave," said Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J. "There's been an ongoing effort, by a dedicated and now-expanded group, to try to get them back on U.S. soil."

The Navy has resisted the efforts, citing a tradition of honoring the final resting place of those lost during service.

"Right now, the Navy's position has not changed," said Lt. Lauryn Dempsey, a Navy spokeswoman.

"The chief of naval operations considers the Tripoli Protestant Cemetery to be the final resting place."

In its most recent effort to pressure the Navy to retrieve the bodies, Congress passed a bill, which is awaiting a signature from President Barack Obama, that orders the Navy and the Department of Defense to review the feasibility of recovering the remains and report a recommendation back to Congress, Stars and Stripes said.

Somers Point Mayor Jack Glasser said he is pessimistic about the results of the measure.

"We're hopeful they come back and say, 'OK, we can do this,'" Glasser said. "But our fears are that they come back and say it costs too much money for whatever reasons. Or that someday they'll have another regime change over there and they'll desecrate these remains and they'll be lost forever."

World News

Group wants USS Intrepid sailors returned

Published: Nov. 2, 2011 at 4:41 PM
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/11/02/Group-wants-USS-Intrepid-sailors-returned/UPI-46091320266479/?rel=73691324937068.

TRIPOLI, Libya, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- A U.S. group trying to bring home the remains of 13 sailors killed two centuries ago off the shores of Tripoli says it is pushing for support from the military.

Supporters of the drive to bring the fallen sailors from the USS Intrepid home to the United States say they're hopeful the recent leadership change in Libya will push forward the effort to repatriate the fallen heroes, The Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday.

A congressional bill that passed in May included an amendment authored by U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers and Frank LoBiondo that would require the Defense Department to return the bodies of the 13 sailors buried in mass graves in Libya since 1804.

"The United States has an obligation to leave no member of our military behind, regardless of how long ago they were killed," Rogers said when the bill was passed.

The sailors were killed when their ship exploded in Tripoli Harbor while on a mission to destroy Tripoli's fleet during the First Barbary War. When their bodies washed ashore, they were fed to a pack of dogs and then dumped into two mass graves, Rogers said.

Rogers said he joined the effort to bring the remains of the Navy commandos back to the United States for a proper burial after visiting the grave sites in 2004.

The Defense Department has been reluctant to embrace the group's repatriation efforts, saying the sailors received a proper burial during a graveside ceremony in Tripoli in 1947.

"Their concern is that there are other sailors other places that people are going to want to go after," Rogers told the newspaper

OMAN TRIBUNE

http://www.omantribune.com/index.php?page=news&id=108480&heading=Middle%20East

US navy resists bid to take back remains of 1804 crew.

WASHINGTON. The US Navy crew perished more than 207 years ago, but an effort to repatriate their remains is getting new attention in Washington.

In the wake of the liberation of Libya, members of Congress are pressuring a reluctant defence department to bring home the bodies of Captain Richard Somers of New Jersey and his 12 shipmates.

But the navy has resisted, saying that a graveyard in Tripoli is their final resting place.

Somers’ mission during the First Barbary War was to sail the explosive-filled ketch Intrepid into Tripoli harbour on September 4, 1804 and blow it up amid the fleet of pirate corsairs.

But the ship exploded in the harbour before reaching its targets, either because the crew members came under enemy fire or blew themselves up to prevent their load of powder from being captured. All on board were killed.

“When these bodies washed ashore, some pretty horrible stuff happened. They were drug through the streets, fed to dogs, and worse than that, and then thrown into a mass grave,” said Rep. Frank LoBiondo, RNJ. “There’s been an ongoing effort, by a dedicated and now-expanded group, to try to get them back on US soil.”

Somers was a native of Somers Point, an Atlantic County town named for his great-grandfather, a major Colonial-era landowner. Supporters say, at least as far back as 1840, Somers’ sister asked for her brother’s body to be brought home, and efforts in Congress to order repatriation go back decades.

A December 1980 story in The New York Times, for example, noted that then-Rep. Harold C. Hollenbeck, RNJ, was hoping incoming president Ronald Reagan would be more receptive to his effort to require repatriation than outgoing president Jimmy Carter had been.

The navy has resisted the efforts, citing a tradition of honouring the final resting place of those lost on ships and downed aircraft.

“Right now, the navy’s position has not changed,” said Lieutenant Lauryn Dempsey, a Navy spokeswoman.

“The chief of naval operations considers the Tripoli Protestant Cemetery to be the final resting place.”

US Navy Says Remains to Stay in Libya

2011-12-26T00:47:00.000-08:00

Stars & Stripes

U.S. Navy says remains of 1804 crew will stay in Libya
By HERB JACKSON

The Record
Published: December 26, 2011
http://www.stripes.com/news/navy/u-s-navy-says-remains-of-1804-crew-will-stay-in-libya-1.164462

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Navy crew perished more than 207 years ago, but an effort to repatriate their remains is getting new attention in Washington.

In the wake of the liberation of Libya, members of Congress are pressuring a reluctant Defense Department to bring home the bodies of Capt. Richard Somers of New Jersey and his 12 shipmates. But the Navy has resisted, saying that a graveyard in Tripoli is their final resting place.

Somers' mission during the First Barbary War was to sail the explosive-filled ketch Intrepid into Tripoli harbor on Sept. 4, 1804, and blow it up amid the fleet of pirate corsairs.

But the ship exploded in the harbor before reaching its targets, either because the crew members came under enemy fire or blew themselves up to prevent their load of powder from being captured. All on board were killed.

"When these bodies washed ashore, some pretty horrible stuff happened. They were drug through the streets, fed to dogs, and worse than that, and then thrown into a mass grave," said Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J. "There's been an ongoing effort, by a dedicated and now-expanded group, to try to get them back on U.S. soil."

Somers was a native of Somers Point, an Atlantic County town named for his great-grandfather, a major Colonial-era landowner. Supporters say, at least as far back as 1840, Somers' sister asked for her brother's body to be brought home, and efforts in Congress to order repatriation go back decades.

A December 1980 story in The New York Times, for example, noted that then-Rep. Harold C. Hollenbeck, R-N.J., was hoping incoming President Ronald Reagan would be more receptive to his effort to require repatriation than outgoing President Jimmy Carter had been.

The Navy has resisted the efforts, citing a tradition of honoring the final resting place of those lost on ships and downed aircraft.

"Right now, the Navy's position has not changed," said Lt. Lauryn Dempsey, a Navy spokeswoman. "The chief of naval operations considers the Tripoli Protestant Cemetery to be the final resting place."

The remains had been moved to the cemetery in 1930 after being discovered by road builders. After World War II, the Navy held a formal memorial ceremony at the cemetery in 1949.

The recent uprising in Libya provided a new opening for Congress to press the issue this year, and a bill now on President Barack Obama's desk orders the Navy and the Department of Defense to study the feasibility of recovering the remains and report a recommendation back to Congress within nine months.

LoBiondo and others preferred an outright mandate, and included one in the bill that originally passed the House.

But LoBiondo said the top-ranking Republican and Democratic chairman on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Carl Levin of Michigan, agreed with the Navy and stripped references to the Intrepid's crew from the bill. LoBiondo was able to get the compromise language added back as a member of the House-Senate conference committee.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visited the cemetery in Tripoli while in Libya on Dec. 17, but he did not mention the call for repatriation. Instead, he talked about working with Libyan officials "to ensure that this very special place remains an honored and protected landmark for both of our nations."

Advocates for returning the sailors' remains are happy Congress has taken some action, but they're far from confident it will produce results.

"We're hopeful they come back and say, 'OK, we can do this,'" said Somers Point Mayor Jack Glasser. "But our fears are that they come back and say it costs too much money for whatever reasons. Or that someday they'll have another regime change over there and they'll desecrate these remains and they'll be lost forever."

LoBiondo said he has "a lot of respect for Mr. Panetta" and wasn't pessimistic yet.
"I wonder if maybe he didn't have the whole story about the desecration of bodies. He's a very thoughtful, patriotic individual. When the whole story unfolds, hopefully, he'll be in agreement," LoBiondo said.
___

Remember the Hunley & ID Intrepid Crew

2011-12-24T00:16:00.000-08:00

Secretary of Defense pays respects to 1804 crew of USS Intrepid in Tripoli
By Susy Raybon, Military Community Examiner

The National Military Examiner publishes military and military-related content that often misses mainstream media, including all troop losses. For instant updates, please use the SUBSCRIBE icon on this page and view more military articles from across the nation on Facebook at the National Military News Examiner. Thank you for reading and thank you for supporting all of America’s boots on the ground and all the ships at sea! Merry Christmas!

http://www.examiner.com/military-community-in-national/secretary-of-defense-pays-respects-to-1804-crew-of-uss-intrepid-tripoli

For the first time in history a United States Secretary of Defense visited Tripoli, Libya, and paid tribute to Navy Lieutenant Richard Somers and his crew of sailors who died aboard the USS Intrepid during the first Barbary War in 1804.

Saturday (Dec. 17, 2011), Leon Panetta laid a wreath on the graves of the sailors who were interred in Tripoli’s Protestant cemetery.

The 2012 Defense Authorization Act includes a provision that requires the Defense Department to begin the process of identifying and returning Lt. Somers and his crew to U.S. soil and to report back to Congress the feasibility of recovering and positively identifying the missing sailors.

Examiner’s Note: To some the task of identifying 200 year-old remains might seem impossible unless you know the story of the H.L. Hunley, the Confederate submarine that sank in Charleston Harbor in 1864. The remains of those onboard that ill-fated submarine have been identified.

Bill Kelly: Thank you Susy for pointing out the latest technological advances make it possible for positive identification of even centuries old remains, and the identification of the men of the Hunley by the Smithsonian scientists certainly indicate the same techniques can be applied to the remains of the men of the Intrepid. Both the Somers and Wadsworth families have offered to provide DNA samples to use to attempt to positively identify Master Commandant Richard Somers and his first officer Lt. Henry Wadsworth, and the third officer Lt. Joseph Israel can be identificated using the same methods.

History
H.L. Hunley was a Confederate submersible that demonstrated the advantage and danger of undersea warfare. Although not this nation's first submarine, Hunley was the first submarine to engage and sink a warship.

Privately built in 1863 by Park and Lyons of Mobile, Alabama,Hunley was fashioned from a cylindrical iron steam boiler, which was deepened and also lengthened through the addition of tapered ends. Hunley was designed to be hand powered by a crew of nine: eight to turn the hand-cranked propeller and one to steer and direct the boat. As a true submarine, each end was equipped with ballast tanks that could be flooded by valves or pumped dry by hand pumps. Extra ballast was added through the use of iron weights bolted to the underside of the hull. In the event the submarine needed additional buoyancy to rise in an emergency, the iron weight could be removed by unscrewing the heads of the bolts from inside the vessel.

On 17 February 1864, the Confederate submarine made a daring late night attack on USS Housatonic, a 1,240-ton (B) sloop-of-war with 16 guns, in Charleston Harbor off the coast of South Carolina. H.L. Hunley rammed Housatonic with spar torpedo packed with explosive powder and attached to a long pole on its bow. The spar torpedo embedded in the sloop's wooden side was detonated by a rope as Hunley backed away. The resulting explosion that sent Housatonic with five crew members to the bottom of Charleston Harbor also sank Hunley with its crew of eight. H.L. Hunley earned a place in the history of undersea warfare as the first submarine to sink a ship in wartime.

The Wreck
The search for Hunley ended 131 years later when best-selling author Clive Cussler and his team from the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) discovered the submarine after a 14-year search. At the time of discovery, Cussler and NUMA were conducting this research in partnership with the South Carolina Institute of Anthropology and Archaeology (SCIAA). The team realized that they had found Hunley after exposing the forward hatch and the ventilator box (the air box for the attachment of a snorkel). The submarine rested on its starboard side at about a 45-degree angle and is covered in a 1/4 to 3/4-inch encrustation of ferrous oxide bonded with sand and shell particles. Archaeologists exposed a little more on the port side and found the bow dive plane on that side. More probing revealed an approximate length of 34 feet with most, if not all, of the vessel preserved under the sediment.

In August 2000 archaeological investigation and excavation culminated with the resurrection ofHunley from its watery grave. A large team of professionals from the Naval Historical Center's Underwater Archaeology Branch, National Park Service, the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology and various other individuals investigated the vessel, measuring and documenting it prior to preparing it for removal. Once the on-site investigation was complete, harnesses were slipped underneath the sub one by one and attached to a truss designed by Oceaneering, International, Inc. Then after the last harness had been secured, the crane fromKarlissa B began hoisting the submarine from the mire of the harbor. On August 8 at 8:37 AM the sub broke the surface for the first time in over 136 years where it was greeted by a cheering crowd in hundreds of nearby watercraft. Once safely on its transporting barge, Hunley finally completed its last voyage back to Charleston, passing by hundreds of spectators on Charleston's shores and bridges. The removal operation reached its successful conclusion when the submarine was secured inside the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in a specially designed tank of freshwater to await conservation.

All who viewed the vessel said Hunley incorporated an unexpectedly graceful and beautiful design.
It is certainly a marvel both for its time period and for modern day researchers. No doubt this small submarine will be the key to unlock many mysteries of a bygone era.

Scientists Study The Last Men Who Served On The H.L. Hunley
By Nancy Jennis Olds April 2004
http://www.civilwarnews.com/archive/articles/hunley_study.htm

Several teeth, packed in a small narrow box surrounded in foam material, were laid in a neat row. Gold fillings gleamed like tiny percussion caps on the molars and an incisor. One filling was cast in a silver amalgam material.

This was not a dental office. It was Dr. Doug Owsley's office at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. We were peering at the teeth of Lt. George E. Dixon. He was commander of the H.L. Hunley, the Confederate submarine that disappeared off the waters of Charleston, S.C., on the night of Feb. 17, 1864, after sinking the USS Housatonic.

Owsley, the head of physical anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution, worked with a team of scientists, including Department of the Army forensic genealogist Linda Abrams and medical examiner Dr. J.C. Upshaw Downs, the chief medical examiner for the state of Alabama and a former resident of Charleston.

Eight men were aboard the Hunley when it sank for the third and final time. Five of the crew drowned on Aug. 29, 1863, and all eight crew, including the sub's namesake and benefactor, Horace Lawson Hunley, were lost when the Hunley went down again on Oct. 15, 1863. Both times the Hunley was salvaged. After the third sinking it took 136 years before the sub was raised.

The information that Owsley and Abrams share about the third crew provides a fascinating look at the lives of these courageous men who crewed the first submarine to successfully attack and sink an enemy ship.

Every available space in Dr. Owsley's cramped offices is filled with cases of skulls and bones gathered over the years for research. In the midst of this vast collection Owsley moves around quickly. He is an amicable host who is constantly asked to lend his expertise when a skeleton is found. At the moment he is analyzing two young female skeletons discovered after wild animals had scattered the bones.

He was asked to examine the remains found in the sediment that filled the Hunley. The skeletons were well preserved, allowing Owsley a rare opportunity to thoroughly analyze the remains and provide some details about the crew.

Each set of remains, and any artifacts discovered near them, was meticulously cataloged. Owsley shared his notes on two of the crew, BB and AA.

The youngest member of the crew, identified by Dr. Owsley as BB because of his position inside the submarine, was a Caucasian male whose bone age was from 19 to 22 years and whose femur histology (tissue structure of the thighbone) was recorded to be 21.8 years. He was also the shortest crewmember. According to Owsley's findings, "He would have been the least cramped and had the greatest ease of movement within the submarine".

The young man's vertebrae showed some wear, a "strain induced deterioration of joint surfaces." Tobacco staining on the teeth indicated that he might have smoked cigars and chewed tobacco. No pipe facets that were related to pipe smoking were evident on the teeth. Further study of the skeletal remains showed the kind of bone growth and fusing of bone that confirmed his age.

The remains discovered in the AA section of the Hunley belonged to a Caucasian male whose bone age was between 24 to 25 years. The femur histology was 28 years. Dr. Owsley's notes reference the "medial epiphyses [ossification] of the clavicles [collarbone] are in the final stage of union and the hyoid [complex of bones at the base of the tongue] is intact with the wings fused to the body".

Owsley found evidence that AA had health problems. According to his records, the "nasal septum is markedly deviated to the right side. This degree of deformity would have impaired airflow through the right half of the nasal chamber."

This man's teeth were stained slightly from tobacco and there are no indications of pipe smoking. He had cavities and abscesses. Teeth near the abscesses were probably extracted. Six lower jaw teeth had a total of eight cavities.AA had five gold fillings and one filling made from a silver amalgam. The teeth had file marks in the enamel where the fillings were embedded. Different techniques in the manufacture and placement of the fillings could signify that more than one dentist repaired the teeth.

Upon further examination of the remains, Dr. Owsley discovered an injury that revealed the identity of the victim. Owsley's notes say: "This injury was caused by a gunshot wound to the upper thigh, which was primarily a soft tissue injury that caused only superficial damage to the bone. The bone did not fracture and there is no evidence of a serious infection."

A radiograph of the proximal half of the left femur revealed "lead spatter, small metallic particles." They were lead from a bullet and gold from a coin.

AA was Lt. George E. Dixon, of Co. E, 21st Alabama Volunteers, who had volunteered to command the H.L. Hunley. He had been wounded at the Battle of Shiloh. The location, date, his initials and the words, "My life preserver," were engraved on the $20 gold piece that deflected the bullet. He carried the coin with him and it was found in the Hunley sediment.

Linda Abrams identifies POW-MIA remains from the overseas recovery of casualties of World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam and subsequent battles for all branches of the military. About three years ago, Dr. Robert Neyland, project manager for the recovery and excavation of the Hunley, invited Abrams to identify the remains of the Hunley's crew through researching military records and by analyzing the DNA.

Neyland was familiar with the POW-MIA office of the Pentagon. He needed someone with Abrams' solid track record. She has worked with more than 800 cases over 14 years and has identified all the remains.

Abrams says she decided to accept the challenge although she was unfamiliar with Confederate Civil War history. She wanted to approach this research in a way no one had done before.

She compared the investigation of the crews' remains and records to the investigation of a crime scene. Crime scenes are contained and evaluated before evidence can be tampered with. Witnesses are interviewed immediately after the incident before they can be influenced by media reports.

When Abrams began to research the Hunley crew, she found that the trail of information had been affected by preconceived theories that were not substantiated by hard evidence. Her research with the National Archives on Confederate military records was based on 3 by 5-inch index cards, all that was left of the original records which had been destroyed.

Full names were missing, places of enlistment weren't listed, although some military transfers were inscribed. It was incomplete information at best. Abrams went through 120 Confederate ship rosters. She spent hours searching for existing records obtained from various archives, probate courts, funeral homes and libraries throughout the country.

She says she encountered staffers at some institutions who were woefully ignorant about the Hunley crew's significance and were reluctant to give their support. She also found others who couldn't do enough for her. Abrams became acquainted with crew descendents who were unaware of their ancestor's place in history and were grateful to learn about it.

Historians were not entirely sure who the last crewmembers aboard the Hunley were.

Obtaining permission from families whose ancestors probably served aboard the Hunley to exhume a known relative's grave takes patience and persistence. Also, it is very vital that any DNA extracted this way must come from the maternal line of the family to be considered reliable.

The crew of the Hunley was comprised of soldiers and sailors who volunteered for the mission. Some of the crew was from Europe. At least two of the men were nearly or over 40 years old.

One was identified as James A. Wicks, married with two daughters. He had deserted the U.S. Navy by jumping ship from the USS Congress and swimming to shore. Shortly afterward, he enlisted in the Confederate Navy in Richmond.

An artilleryman, J.F. Carlsen, 20 to 23 years old and European, possibly Scandinavian, enlisted with Co. A, Light Artillery South Carolina Volunteers, also known as the German Artillery, before he volunteered to become the very last crewmember aboard the Hunley before its fateful voyage.

The man in charge, Lt. George E. Dixon, had been a riverboat engineer on the Mississippi. He had enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private and rose through the ranks quickly.

Abrams found records of two male friends of Dixon who had named their sons George. Dixon was described as handsome, "quite the fellow" from some sources. According to Abrams, "Dixon had the right stuff." She hopes to find more information on him. "He must have been an exceptional person," she says.

Abrams admits that the research and analysis required to identify the Hunley's last crew is more daunting than her work identifying the remains of contemporary POW-MIAs. She has faced their skulls almost pleading for them to "talk to me!"

Although the eight men will be laid to rest after 136 years submerged in the H.L. Hunley, the work in uncovering the secrets of their life and death will continue.

The crew was composed of Lieutenant George E. Dixon (Commander), Frank Collins, Joseph F. Ridgaway, James A. Wicks, Arnold Becker, Corporal C. F. Carlsen, C. Lumpkin, and Augstus Miller.

Apart from the commander of the submarine, Lieutenant George E. Dixon, the identities of the volunteer crewmen of the Hunley had long remained a mystery. Douglas Owsley, a physical anthropologist working for the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, examined the remains and determined that four of the men were American born, while the four others were European born, based on the chemical signatures left on the men's teeth and bones by the predominant components of their diet. Four of the men had eaten plenty of maize, an American diet, while the remainder ate mostly wheat and rye, a mainly European one. By examining Civil War records and conducting DNA testing with possible relatives, forensic genealogist Linda Abrams was able to identify the remains of Dixon and the three other Americans: Frank G. Collins of Fredericksburg, Va., Joseph Ridgaway, and James A. Wicks. Identifying the European crewmen has been more problematic, but was apparently solved in late 2004. The position of the remains indicated that the men died at their stations and were not trying to escape from the sinking submarine.

On April 17, 2004 the remains of the crew were laid to rest at Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina. Tens of thousands of people attended including some 6,000 reenactors and 4,000 civilians wearing period clothing. Color guards from all five branches of the U.S. armed forces—wearing modern uniforms—were also in the procession. Even though only two of the crew were from Confederate States all were buried with full Confederate honors including being buried with a version of the Confederate national flag.

Another surprise occurred in 2002, when a researcher examining the area close to Lieutenant Dixon found a misshapen $20 gold piece, minted in 1860, with the inscription "Shiloh April 6, 1862 My life Preserver G. E. D." and a forensic anthropologist found a healed injury to Lt. Dixon's hip bone. The findings matched a legend, passed down in the family, that Dixon's sweetheart, Queenie Bennett, had given him the coin to protect him. Dixon had the coin with him at the Battle of Shiloh, where he was wounded in the thigh on April 6, 1862. The bullet struck the coin in his pocket, saving his leg and possibly his life. He had the gold coin engraved and carried it as a lucky charm.

The National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), originally an organization within the fiction of author Clive Cussler, is a private non-profit organization in the United States. Cussler created and leads the actual organization which is dedicated to "preserving maritime heritage through the discovery, archaeological survey and conservation of shipwreck artifacts."

From the Shores of Tripoli to Dover & Arlington

2011-12-23T23:29:00.000-08:00

From the Shores of Tripoli to Dover and Arlington
By William Kelly

If the men of the Intrepid had been killed in a helicopter crash in the mountains of Laos or Camboda, whenever it happened and however remote and inaccessible their bodies were located, they would be home now.

When we started the most recent effort to repatriate the remains of Richard Somers and the US Navy heroes from Tripoli all we asked was that they be treated like any other US serviceman who is killed in action and returned home. The process is already established and the POW/MP office has quietly repatriated the remains of thousands of US servicemen who have been killed in combat in from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The US military runs on policies however, and one of those policies is that they only apply the “leave no one behind” tradition to those killed since World War I, even though there have been exceptions, such as the repatriation of the remains of John Paul Jones from Paris.

When a US serviceman is killed or dies abroad, their remains are taken to American military bases in Hawaii or Germany where they are given a full forensic autopsy before being flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where they are either handed over to the family or buried at Arlingtion or a veterans cemetery with full military honors.

Both Dover AFB and Arlington National Cemetery have been subjects of recent scandals, Dover involving the disposal of the partial remains of some of the dead in a landfill dump, while discrepancies have been found in nearly one quarter of the 300,000 graves at Arlingtion.

Although the officers responsible have been reassigned, “new leadership” teams have been put in place, the partial remains now disposed of at sea and Arlington has upgraded their record keeping policies, these incidents have called attention to both Dover and Arlingiton and the policies and practices that are undertaken in the burial of those killed in action.

Not unknown to scandal, Dover was also where two nuclear bombs went missing, bombs that were intentionally disposed of in the ocean off of Cape May, New Jersey, and never recovered.

During the Iraq war President George Bush ordered that the press and photographers be banned from Dover AFB so photos of the dead would not be used to encourage anti-war sentiment, though that rule has been relaxed so the families can now choose whether or not they want photographs or reporters.

The American attitude towards the return of the remains of their war dead is much different than that of Canada, where they hold what is known as a “Ramp Ceremony” whenever the casket of a dead service member is returned home. Everyone in the area stops what they are doing and salutes the remains as it is taken off the plane and transported from the ramp.

While the United States has a similar ceremony, it is not conducive if the public, the press and photographers are banned from the area and forbidden to photograph the event.

More recently a photo has been posted on the internet that appears to indicate some of the service members who were stationed at Dover didn’t take their jobs very seriously, though the origins and meaning of the photo has yet to be properly explained.

In 2007, the military secretly repatriated the remains of 70 Americans from the cemetery at Wheelus Air Force Base in Tripoli, without identifying or notifying the families involved. Only after all of the remains were in Dover was there an attempt to locate and notify the families of those exhumed, and there is no indication of what became of the remains of those who were not identified. Were they reburied at a military cemetery in Delaware or did they end up with the partial remains and dumped at the local landfill?

And why weren’t the 13 men of the Intrepid included in the mass exhumation and transport of the remains of 70 Americans from Tripoli when the opportunity presented itself?

How the military deals with its dead, especially those who die in combat, is now the subject of three reports – the Dover AF photo investigation, the Arlington burial scandal and the House/Senate Armed Services Committee Conference evaluation of the Tripoli graves.

Will the military assigned to do these reports sweep the dust of our heroes under the rug and whitewash the truth, or will they do the right thing and apply their policies across the board to all servicemen, regardless of when they served?

Will they leave the remains of our naval heroes buried in an unmarked grave under a parking lot at Martyrs Square, or return them home with dignity and bury them with honor and respect?

LIBYA: MASS FOR THE DEAD IN ITALIAN CEMETERY IN TRIPOLI

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pamle/message/940?var=1

(ANSAmed) - TRIPOLI, NOVEMBER 2 - The Bishop of Tripoli, Mons. Martinelli, celebrated today in the presence of Italian Ambassador Francesco Paolo Trupiano and numerous representatives of the Italian community the traditional mass for commemoration of the dead, served at the altar which towers above the crypt where Italo Balbo was buried in the Italian cemetery in the Libyan capital.

The Hammangi Cemetery, where the remains of at least 8,600 compatriots rest, and defined for years as the "cemetery of shame" or "the forgotten cemetery", is recovering little by little its dignity thanks to a recovery project launched in July 2006. For years the Hammangi Cemetery has been a real outdoor dump, profaned by unknown hands which have uprooted the crosses, broken the stones, rummaged tombs searching for some gold chains, or just for the pleasure to profane. A grievous, dramatic picture which accommodated the first of 20,000 Italian refugees in Libya pursued in 1970 by Colonel Gaddafi, who in November 2004 received a permission to return in Tripoli and faced a real slaughter. The International Management Group (IMG), an international body which has been entrusted with the environmental recovery intervention - funded by MAE - of the entire cemetery designed by architect Paolo Caccia Dominioni, has just completed the works on the exhumation of 6,472 bodies, of which 3,730 have already been placed in new urns and the others are kept for now in a underground crypt of a military shrine, which has kept for years the remains of 11,000 soldiers who died during the colonial war, awaiting their transfer into new urns, once the works are finished.

Only 23 bodies remain for exhumation, which will be transferred in Italy, once the necessary procedures completed. The works on the recovery of the whole area within the perimeter fence continue, the Libyan authorities will be charged with the incinerator used to burn some 5,000 old wooden coffins and clothings of the exhumed bodies, as well as with the iron coffins.

Now the third phase of the project remains which, according to the commitments taken on at the time by the authorities in Tripoli, envisages among other things the recovery of the outer large square and the construction of a new road to access the main road. The whole area surrounding the new perimeter, some 12 hectares, will be returned to the municipality of Tripoli, which will create a green area there. "I expect that it will be no longer described as the cemetery of shame," Giovanna Ortu, president of the association of Italians repatriated from Libya (AIRL), which took part in the 'travel of memory' in November 2004, said. The hope is fulfilled also thanks to the patient work of the guardian angel of the Italians in Libya buried in Hammangi, Bruno Dalmasso, who was in charge of the diggings to exhume the bodies and identified them one by one. Thanks to his constancy and to that of the Italian Consulate at least 95% of these dead now have names.(ANSAmed).

http://bruno.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Tripoliwood-inside-Khaddafiland/G0000CjWk3VEQDcY/I0000aVjNZs1ndZE
Tripoli, Libya, April 3, 2011..El Hammangi cemetery. A lone dog wanders around a broken statue in the italian part of the cemetery, rebuilt in 1951 by Caccio Domignioni.

Repatriated Americans Laid To Rest At Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery

http://veteransaffairs.delaware.gov/news/083007-RepatriatedAmericans.shtml
Press Release
August 30, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The remains of 54 Americans were laid to rest in a solemn ceremony at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Millsboro Friday, after making a long journey from their initial resting place at a cemetery in Libya.

The 52 infants and two adults were first interred at Hammangi Cemetery, an Italian cemetery located in Tripoli, Libya, between 1956 and 1970, when the U.S. military operated Wheelus Air Base there. "Family members of Airmen were often buried in the cemetery because, at that time, service members did not receive entitlements to have the remains of their loved ones flown back to the U.S. for burial," said Mark Blair, chief of Air Force Mortuary Affairs.

Not long before major renovations were set to begin at Hammangi Cemetery, U.S. government officials were told that the graves of the American military dependents would be disturbed and that the plans for the new cemetery area did not include a burial site for those remains.

In coordination with the U.S. State Department, an Air Force Services Mortuary Team, led by Mr. Blair, went to Libya and exhumed the remains, taking great care to maintain the individual identity of each set of remains throughout the process. The team brought the remains to the Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs at Dover Air Force Base, where they were held while officials exhausted all efforts to contact the families to make final disposition arrangements.
In total, 72 American citizens were repatriated this spring. Of the 72 remains that were repatriated, however, the families of 18 of them chose to have their loved ones interred in various locations. This left 54 individuals without a final resting place on American soil.

Because of the amount of time that had transpired between the original internment and repatriation of the bodies, Air Force officials were unable to make contact with every family. It was through a close working relationship between the Air Force, Delaware state officials and the Delaware Commission of Veterans Affairs that the remaining bodies could be interred in the cemetery at Millsboro.

"I am very honored that the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery is the final resting place for these Americans," said Delaware Secretary of State Harriet Smith Windsor, who attended the ceremony. "Today is the culmination of a lot of hard work and coordination, especially on the part of Tony Davila, Executive Director of the Delaware Commission of Veterans Affairs, and the Air Force."

Among those present at the ceremony were Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Ronald Harvell, Chaplain (Capt.) Robert Roffman, and Father Michael Darcy, who provided Protestant, Jewish and Catholic prayers, respectively, providing for the particular religious needs for the internment of each of the 54 repatriated Americans.
###

Cemetery American Infant and Adult Interments ("Kindergraves") 1958-1972, relocated 2007
Wheelus Air Force Base, Tripoli, Libya
"The Littlest Uaddans"

http://user.icx.net/~richmond/rsr/kindergraveswheelus.html
Air Force searches for kin of Americans buried at former base in Libya

by Scott Schonauer
Stars and Stripes, European Edition, May 19th, 2007

Kaiserslautern, Germany - The Air Force is looking for the families of 72 deceased Americans repatriated near a former American military base in Libya.

In a surprising display of how relations between the U.S. and Libya have warmed, American military cargo planes were allowed to land in the country last March to transport the remains to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.

The American dead are believed to be family members of airmen once stationed at Wheelus Air Base, home to B-52 bombers from 1958 to 1972. The remains, some of them nearly fifty years old, include 70 infants and two adults.

Plans to reduce the size of the cemetery prompted the transfer. Air Force officials did not release information on the repatriation until now due to the State Department's concern over the fragile, yet improving relationship between the two countries.

The military has set up a hotline and has reached out to Wheelus High School alumni in hopes of tracking down family members. Air Force Mortuary Affairs officials declined to be interviewed for this story and would only answer questions by e-mail. The U.S. embassy in Tripoli did not return phone calls or e-mails.

"While some families have been located and notified, this is an enormous task considering the limited information that we have available to work with," the air Forces Mortuary Affairs office wrote in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes. "Since all of the cemetery records were handwritten with only limited information recorded, it will take some time to ensure we locate the next-of-kin."

Wheelus, which was located just east of Tripoli on the Mediterranean coast, served as a U.S. Air Force base until Moammar Gadhafi ousted the king in 1969. The Italian military used to run the cemetery and offered free plots to Americans stationed at Wheelus when the Air Force used the base.

A team of three mortuary affairs specialists accompanied by a financial specialist spent two weeks in February recovering the remains with the help of locally contracted workers.

A C-130 transport plane assigned to the 86th Airlift Wing's 37th Airlift Squadron flew the dead to Ramstein Air Base, where they were transferred to a C-5 cargo plane and sent to Dover.

"The mission to recover U.S. remains from the cemetery in Libya was absolutely the right thing to do, and the 86th Airlift Wing was proud to have a role," Brig. Gen. Richard Johnston, the 86th commander, said in a written statement to Stars and Stripes. "The government of Libya was very helpful in facilitating this humanitarian effort, and we appreciate their cooperation which allowed the United States to make that happen."

The remains will remain at Dover Air Force Base until family members can be contacted. If the families cannot be contacted, the military will bury them at a federal or state cemetery near the air base, the Air Force said.

Relations between the U.S. and Libya have been confrontational for a span of nearly three decades up until several years ago.

The U.S. government restored diplomatic relations to Libya last year after the North African country renounced its support of terrorism and agreed to give up its weapons of mass destruction.

E-mail Scott Schonauer at
schonauers@estripes.osd.mil

Randy Keel at the HQ Air Force Mortuary Affairs in San Antonio TX provided me the following information in August 2007:

I have attached a complete listing of remains repatriated from the Hammangi Cemetery in Tripoli, Libya in March of 2007.

Our office utilized multiple angles to locate and contact surviving next of kin including genealogical research, National Archives, Air Force Historical Research Agency Archives, Wheelus High School Alumni Association and the former Tripoli Residents Association.

Those remains claimed by surviving family members were processed by members of our staff, provided a specification casket, and interred according to the families instructions. A member of our staff and a uniformed Air Force member was present at each interment with the family's permission.

Those remains that were unclaimed or in which no surviving next-of-kin were located were processed by members of our staff, provided a specification casket, and provided a dignified interment with an ecumenical graveside service at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Millsboro, DE.
Of the original 72 remains recovered, 18 were claimed by family members.

Due to privacy concerns for those families, we would ask that you do not publicly post the fathers' names.

Although many years have passed, such a loss remains very sensitive to many of these families.
I have transcribed the names and dates of death from Randy Keel's original spreadsheet. Except where noted, burial was one to three days after death. For each burial, the spreadsheet also provides the father's name. Occasionally there was some additional information, such as the name of the officiating clergyman or the morgue technician. The original records are handwritten logs.

American Children Interred at the Italian Cemetery, Tripoli, Libya,
from 1956-1966

Protestant Section #16 - ground burial

Talcott 6 Jan 1960
Matsuda, infant 1 Feb 1960
Batcelor, Benjamin Jr. [sic] 2 Feb 1960
Johnson, Richard Charles 15 Mar 1960
Lions, Albert 22 Jul 1960
Kiryakakis, Peter 30 Aug 1960
Judd, Edward Eugene 14 Sept 1960
Brandt, infant 4 Oct 1960
Richardson, Michael A. 7 Nov 1960
Sheekan H., Barbara 21 Nov 1960
Stiffler 17 Dec 1960
Dreker, James Robert 17 Dec 1960
Halfhill, James Donald 13 Mar 1961
Bowersox, Kimberly 24 Mar 1961
Nordsine, Barbara 3 April 1961
Hoslis, James David 2 May 1961
Wiese, Infant 12 June 1961
Dumas, Rodney 10 Jul 1961
English, Gina Maria 1 Nov 1961
Franklin, Patricia Jean 21 Nov 1961
De Graw, Yvonnia 22 Mar 1962
Pierce, Kathleen 25 Mar 1962
Hood, Linda 5 Apr 1962
Perkins, infant 11 April 1962
Gass, Jarred R. 29 Jul 1962
Glass, Frank 3 Dec 1962
Householder, Vicki 5 Mar 1963
Wright, Michele 11 Mar 1963
Butler, Mark Edward 2 Apr 1963
Baker 10 Apr 1963
Shelton 25 Apr 1963
Dean, Rodney Earl 5 June 1963
White, infant 5 June 1963
Pearsen, Evalyn 7 Jul 1963 (adult American)
Newlin, Gadios James 5 Aug 1963
Hathaway, infant 7 Aug 1963
Chewning, infant 30 Aug 1963
Griffin, infant 28 Nov 1963
Perry, Regina Adelle 10 Dec 1963
Bow, infant 13 Jul 1964
Miles, infant 26 Jan 1965
Alexander, infant 5 Apr 1965
Gibson, Stanly Gaylan 27 Apr 1965
Lochridge 24 May 1965
Farrell, Susan Teresa 9 Nov 1965
Woodall, Robert 14 Mar 1966
Lott 3 Sep 1966
Faragallah, Shawkat 16 Feb 1956
Coffee, Jo Lynn 3 Feb 1957
Calhouri, William Josef 15 Sept 1957
Klein, Diana Patricia 27 Jun 1958
Carmos, Gavin Vincent 13 Sept 1958
Thomson 11 Oct 1958
Marshall, John Edwards 14 Apr 1959
Marshall, Mary Margaret 13 Apr 1959

Catholic Section #6, ground burial

Arkheruis, Anne Evans 5 Jul 1959
Du Vernay 4 Jun 1958
Eckbauer, Carmen 29 Jan 1959
Du Fresne, Norman 7 Apr 1959
Leach, Kenneth L. 18 Jun 1961
Winkler 5 Jul 1961
Rogers, Billy W. 24 Jan 1962
Lockard 3 Jun 1962
Meador 2 Jul 1962
Manfred 10 Dec 1962
Raymond, Olivia 20 Feb 1963
Rupertt, Romeo 12 Mar 1963
Elbel, Hope 31 Sept 1964 [sic]
Simalton 12 Mar 1964
Kovacs, Teresa Marie 10 Mar 1964
White, Amy 26 Nov 1962, interment 11 Dec 1962

Mausoleum entombment, adult, probably in the Protestant section
Allen, Laura Kelsey born 25 Nov 1884, Somerville MA, died 20 Nov 1960
Bailey, Ellla M. born 16 Dec 1884 Houston TX, died 26 Aug 1953

http://bruno.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Tripoliwood-inside-Khaddafiland/G0000CjWk3VEQDcY/I00003.HI2VQEkN0
Tripoli, Libya, April 3, 2011..El Hammangi cemetery. More than 4500 commonwealth fighters from WWII are buried in the British Cemetery, beautifully maintained by the British embassy in Tripoli.
STB201104A_D03_8718.jpg

http://bruno.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Tripoliwood-inside-Khaddafiland/G0000CjWk3VEQDcY/I0000rQgM8LtFqI8
Tripoli, Libya, April 3, 2011..El Hammangi cemetery. Hundreds of non muslem foreigners, mostly African migrant workers, are buried in a remote part of the cemetery.
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http://bruno.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Tripoliwood-inside-Khaddafiland/G0000CjWk3VEQDcY/I0000YTW3TkQ16h4

Tripoli, Libya, April 3, 2011..El Hammangi cemetery. Hundreds of illegal would be immigrants to Europe are washed away on the Libyan coast when their frail boats capsize during the perilous trip to Italy; many of those often unidentfied bodies are buried in a remote section of Hammangi old cemetery in Tripoli.

McCain Blocks Return of Somers

2011-12-23T22:58:00.001-08:00

Sen. John McCain blocks return of the body of Richard Somers, namesake of Somers Point.

Former Navy pilot and prisoner of war, McCain did the biding of the US Navy brass when he squashed a Senate amendment to the 2012 National Defense Act to repatriate the remains of Navy heroes who were trying to free the American prisoners of war held in the dungeons of the old castle fort in Tripoli. The prisoners buried the remains of Richard Somers and the other officers and men of the Intrepid on the beach near the harbor.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/communities/northfield_linwood_somers-point/sen-john-mccain-blocks-return-of-the-body-of-richard/article_387beac4-2dbe-11e1-9cbf-0019bb2963f4.html

Posted: Friday, December 23, 2011 6:28 pm | Updated: 7:53 pm, Fri Dec 23, 2011.
By ROB SPAHR Staff Writer |

SOMERS POINT — Master Commandant Richard Somers will have to wait a little longer to come home, if it happens at all.

Efforts to repatriate the remains of the city’s namesake and U.S. Naval hero — killed with his crew aboard the USS Intrepid in 1804 in Tripoli Harbor during the First Barbary War — date to the 1840s.

Spurred by this year's political upheaval in Libya, the movement seemed to finally have the congressional backing it needed to order the Department of Defense to take action regarding the return of the bodies of Somers and his men to the U.S.

However, the language in an amendment to the 2012 Defense Authorization bill that ordered the return of the bodies was changed at the last minute in favor of a diluted order for the issue to be further evaluated.

And this was done, supporters of the measure say, at the request of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a former Navy prisoner of war.

“Sen. McCain told our group, told the families, that he had no problem with the amendment, which appeared to have unanimous, bipartisan support in both houses of Congress. Then literally at the last minute, in the cloakroom of the Senate, he stood up and opposed it,” said Michael Caputo, coordinator of the Intrepid Project, which is spearheading the repatriation effort. “We were at the top of the hill. This was the furthest the families had ever come toward repatriation, and then Sen. John McCain, ‘Mr. Veteran,’ sucker-punched us and knocked us back down the hill.”

Michael Caputo of the IntrepidProject.org

Caputo said McCain explained that he was “doing this on behalf of the Navy.”

“But our Constitution is set up for Congress to be independent of the executive branch, so he took it upon himself to make this decision,” Caputo said.

The abrupt turnaround was a blow for Somers Point officials, who thought they would soon be celebrating the return of the man the city honors with a Richard Somers Day celebration every year.

“I was in favor of McCain when he ran for president, so I can’t believe he has taken this position,” said Greg Sykora, a member of the city’s Committee to Return Richard Somers. “You would think that of all the people supporting this, he’d be the one waving the flag.”

Greg Sykora (left) and Mayor Jack Glasser (right) with portrait of Richard Somers at Somers Point NJ City Hall Council Chambers.

“Sen. McCain is a Navy guy through and through, so I am not surprised by him sticking by the Navy,” Mayor Jack Glasser said. “But I am hurt and saddened that we were not able to get this done, and do right by those heroes, when it seemed like we were so close to it.”

The Press of Atlantic City contacted McCain’s office in Washington, D.C., for an explanation of his position on the repatriation of the Intrepid crew.

“Sen. McCain continues to evaluate the issue, and looks forward to gaining the input and recommendations of the Secretary of Defense and the Navy,” Brian Rogers, McCain’s communications director, wrote in an email.

Rogers also noted that “the Navy and other key stakeholders have raised significant concerns regarding this issue.” He referred to a 2010 letter from former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead, in which Roughead said the Department of the Navy officially recognizes the Tripoli Protestant Cemetery — where most of the 13 men aboard the Intrepid, including Somers, are believed to be buried in four or five mass graves — as “the final resting place for her crew.”

However, groups such as the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the American Battle Monuments Commission — which manages America’s overseas cemeteries and memorials, including the American cemetery in Normandy, France — have expressed support for the cause.

Under the new language of the bill, the secretary of defense and the secretary of the Navy have 270 days after the bill is enacted to conduct an evaluation into the feasibility of recovering the remains.

But Caputo said he does not expect the study to have a positive outcome.

“The Department of Defense agencies specifically ordered to conduct this report were the ones that have been an impediment to repatriation for decades,” said Caputo, who said the Libyan government — particularly the Gadhafi family — was willing to assist in the effort. “All of the information they say they are looking for has already been researched for decades. We’ve already given it to them, and Libya offered it to them, but they refused it. A book was even written in Libya on the history of the people buried in that cemetery, but they refused it. So we don’t believe they intend to be honest and forthright in this report.”

Caputo said apparent proof of the “whitewash” was evident when the cemetery was allegedly given a quick makeover prior to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s Dec. 17 visit to Libya.

Defense Secretary Pinetta places Challenge Coin on an Intrepid grave at the Tripoli cemetery.

“We have heard reports out of Libya that there were Americans in that cemetery repairing it and clearing it just prior to his visit. And the cemetery had been renovated so recently that, even as he stood in it, the cement on the walls was still not dry,” Caputo said. “For 207 years, these men have been abandoned and left in squalor, and now they are trying to literally paint the picture that this is an appropriate resting place. It’s not. It’s a Potemkin village, it’s a Hollywood set, made to look like an appropriate resting place.”

“It’s a joke,” said Sykora, referring to other recent pictures that were sent to city officials that showed the cemetery in disrepair. “But the reality is we’re not going to stop. We’re going to continue to work every angle.”

One of the angles Caputo said his organization plans to pursue is contacting Arizona voters.

“We will be communicating with voters there in the next several months to inform them of the conduct of their senator,” Caputo said. “We will communicate with them on how disingenuous he was and how he was the lone opponent to the repatriation of the Navy’s first combat heroes.”

But Caputo admits that time is running short.

“We believe that the window is open for the U.S. government now in Libya that most likely will not be open for long,” he said. “This is not where we want to be right now. But we consider this a punt, and we’re really good at punt returns.”

Contact Rob Spahr: 609-272-7147
RSpahr@pressofac.com

Old Protestant Cemetery before the facelift. The remains of more than half of those buried in the cemetery have been relocated to more secure and permanent locations.

McCain & Honor Forgotten Heroes

2011-12-20T11:59:00.000-08:00

Honor forgotten heroes
McCain should embrace plan to return remains of sailors lost in battle in 1804
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial-page/buffalo-news-editorials/article660535.ece

Sen. John McCain’s reluctance to back efforts to return the remains of some of the Navy’s first fallen heroes from the shores of Tripoli is nothing short of puzzling.

Given his own heroic service to this country, we can only believe him when he says he just needs more information and opinion from the Navy, the Defense POW/MIA Office and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command.

But we disagree with the senator’s recent action that has delayed the repatriation of the remains of the sailors 207 years after their deaths.

McCain blocked an amendment in the Senate that would have forced the Pentagon to retrieve the remains of the crew of the USS Intrepid, which was sailing against a pirate fleet in what is now Libya during the First Barbary War in 1804.

Intrepid was filled with explosives and its 13-man crew was sailing for Tripoli harbor, which was a base for pirate ships that were pillaging American merchant vessels in the Mediterranean. The sailors planned to set fuses and escape before Intrepid exploded in the middle of the pirate fleet, but the vessel exploded prematurely, killing all on board.

The Navy has declined to retrieve the remains, determining that Libya is the “final resting place” of the sailors, and that Navy custom calls for honoring the final resting place of those lost on ships and downed aircraft. A formal memorial ceremony held in honor of the sailors and crew took place in Tripoli in 1949, and the Navy has said that U.S. Embassy personnel conducted regular services there for decades.

However, descendants and those with a keen interest in rectifying what they believe to be an oversight want the remains of these sailors returned.

Michael R. Caputo, a longtime political operative from East Aurora, has put his skills to good work on this cause since 2005, enlisting the help of David Bellavia, an Iraq War hero from Batavia, on what is known as the Intrepid Project. The two have joined a grass-roots effort at repatriation.

Caputo makes an undeniable point that the sailors are not honored where they are, in Libya, which until recently was ruled by anti-American despot Moammar Gadhafi. Rep. Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, took the trouble to vis-it the sailors’ graves in 2004 and was appalled at the condition. He took over as House Intelligence Committee chairman and pushed legislation requiring the Pentagon to return the sailors’ remains to U.S. soil.

Caputo worked hard to get support for the effort and did so, from the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, not to mention other legislators. The Rogers measure passed the House in late May. Then the support building in the Senate was dashed by McCain. Now it’s up to a House- Senate conference committee, where the senator has great influence.

To suggest that leaving the remains of these heroes in Libya is acceptable would be an injustice to their descendants, the American people and the country for which they gave their lives. The senator should support this repatriation.

REMARKS BY SENATOR JOHN McCAIN ON THE CONFERENCE REPORT OF THE FY2012 OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS BILL

http://gretawire.foxnewsinsider.com/2011/12/16/senator-mccain-slams-the-omnibus-spending-bill/

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) today delivered the following remarks on the floor of the U.S. Senate on the Conference Report of the FY 2012 Omnibus Appropriations Bill:

“Mr. President, I come to the floor today to discuss the Fiscal Year 2012 Omnibus Appropriations bill that the House just passed this afternoon and the Senate will vote on tomorrow. Once again, the Senate is faced with a thousand-plus page behemoth of an appropriations bill and very little in the way of authorizations to support it. So here we are, at the end of another calendar year, cramming what should be months of actual debate and legislating into hours of reckless appropriating.

“Exactly one year ago, I was here on the Senate floor discussing the exact same problem in the Senate. We were debating an omnibus appropriations bill that was 1,924 pages long and contained the funding for all 12 of the annual appropriations bills for a grand total of over $1.1 trillion and contained approximately 6,488 earmarks totaling nearly $8.3 billion. At the time, I also expressed my frustration at the fact that the Senate refused to move appropriations bill in regular order by debating them one by one, and how it is shameful and we should be embarrassed by the fact that we care so little about doing the people’s business that we continuously put off fulfilling our constitutional responsibilities until the very last minute. While, thankfully, that pork-laden FY2011 Omnibus never became law, we are back at it again this year.

“This time, the conference report we have before us is 1,221 pages long and contains funding for nine of the annual appropriations bills for a grand total of $915 billion (that figure rises to $1.043 trillion if you include the three appropriations bills that have already been enacted).

“So let’s compare:

• “Last year – 1,924 pages. This year – 1,221 pages.

• “Last year – all 12 annual appropriations bills. This year – nine of the annual appropriations bills.

• “Last year – over $1.1 trillion in spending. This year – over $915 billion in spending or $1.043 trillion if you include the three bills we’ve already passed. That works out to be a reduction of 5% from last year to this year. Taxpayers get a better deal at a Macy’s Christmas sale.

• “Last year – 6,488 earmarks totaling nearly $8.3 billion. This year – no traditional “earmarks” but over $3.5 billion in unauthorized spending in DoD alone.

“So should we consider this progress? Are we doing anything differently? The national debt is now at the record level of over $15 trillion, which is more than $48,000 per citizen, yet we have failed to make any significant, meaningful spending cuts and we continue with business as usual.

“Mr. President, the rush to beat the clock and avert a government shut-down is the fault of Congress. It has been four months since we passed the Budget Control Act, which is more than ample time to consider the appropriations measures and more importantly debate and offer amendments on issues that we feel are important to the American taxpayer. We should have the opportunity to offer amendments to cut wasteful spending and eliminate duplicative programs, however, we are now being forced to trust a handful of Senate and House Appropriators to make spending decisions for the rest of us. This is unacceptable in my opinion and I believe it is unacceptable to the American people.

“I wish we could say we didn’t see this coming. The fact is we did see it coming, as early as this spring. In keeping with the regular order and the legislating requirements of the Senate, the Armed Services Committee scheduled and conducted more than 70 hearings, vetted the President’s 2012 budget request, and reported a bill out of committee. Seven months later, we were given time by the Majority Leader to amend and pass the bill on the floor. The other authorizing committees weren’t so lucky. So I say again, here we are, facing an omnibus appropriations measure that lacks properly authorized funding. What is more maddening is that even in the cases where the Senate did authorize funding – as in Defense – the appropriators nonetheless included unrequested and unauthorized spending.

“We have a fundamental problem in the Senate, Mr. President, of being unable to engage in the process of authorizing prior to regular appropriations. And what is the outcome? A handful of appropriators and unelected staffs disburse hundreds of billions of dollars, often in a manner that directly contravenes the will of the authorizers. Consequently, at the 11th hour of the process, we ram through an omnibus measure so that we can get out of town for the holidays. It’s disgraceful Mr. President.
This omnibus contains a number of objectionable provisions:

GUAM

“I strongly oppose Section 8083 of the Defense portion of the bill which permits the Secretary of Defense to transfer Defense operation and maintenance funds totaling $33 million to other federal agencies. This is an earmark to Guam, make no mistake about it, and this funding is included in the bill in direct contravention of explicit direction to the contrary in the Conference Report on the FY12 National Defense Authorization Act which passed this chamber on a vote of 86-13 last night. As such, if this Omnibus Appropriations bill was subject to amendment, I would immediately seek to strip this funding from the bill.

“Let me be clear about what this controversy between the Defense Authorizing and Defense Appropriations Committees is about. This funding is an absolute earmark for Guam and qualifies by any interpretation as a ‘bridge to nowhere’ in terms of whether it supports any currently on-going activities of the Department of Defense.

“The money is, in part, to provide the Government of Guam funds to buy 53 civilian school buses and 53 repair kits for the buses for $10.7 million. Let’s stop there. Why in the world is the Department of Defense buying school buses for anybody? Has one single Marine, sailor, or airman been assigned to Guam as part of the intended buildup that would justify using DoD money to ease a strain on Guam’s school systems? The answer is a flat ‘no’ – this is a pork-barrel payoff to Guam to solve an already existing problem that has nothing to do with any future military realignment related to Guam.

“What else are we buying for this $33 million? Well, $12.7 million is intended to be used for a ‘cultural artifacts repository’ which advocates of this pork-barrel extravaganza claim is related to artifacts that will be dug up during the major military construction projects that have been planned for Guam as part of the buildup. There’s only one problem with that argument: it is flatly not true. First, the military construction projects that would unearth new artifacts for this facility have been put on hold for at least FY2012 and probably longer until the Department of Defense provides Congress with an overall plan and estimated cost for the entire Guam buildup project, and an outside, independent study is prepared and reported to Congress that assesses our military force structure needs in the Pacific. So, the money intended for this ‘cultural artifacts repository’ is, at best, early to need during FY2012 and most likely won’t be known until after completion of another environmental study in two years. If the decision is made not to conduct the sort of extensive military construction projects and training ranges on Guam needed to sustain the movement and permanent basing on Guam of 8,700 Marines and their families – now estimated to be an investment of at least $20 billion – this ‘cultural artifacts repository’ is truly a ‘bridge to nowhere’ because the artifacts it is intended to hold will never be dug out of the earth. The perversity of the logic that we build a museum for artifacts that may never be unearthed is striking.

“But wait, is that the real story? Well, of course not! The money in this Defense Appropriations bill for the ‘cultural artifacts repository’ is actually going to be spent to build a 20,000 square foot ‘museum’ – most of which will be used for the storage of existing artifacts and existing administration completely unrelated to the major military construction projects associated with the build-up on Guam. Guam has been seeking federal funding for this facility for years without success, but because there is some hope of a military buildup on Guam in some form, they have used that weak reed to try to support an argument that somehow this museum relates to the military construction projects – which in any event won’t happen for years into the future. So, at a time of severe fiscal constraint for the Department of Defense, and when every American is being forced to tighten their belt and spend only on the essentials, Guam – through the good offices of their protectors on the Senate and House Appropriations Committees – gets the benefit of $12.5 million in Federal largess for a new museum which they otherwise could not afford. I can only say that the many citizens of Arizona who are out of work, whose homes have been lost due to the economic downturn, who would benefit from any sort of action by the Federal Government to create jobs and ease their burdens, feel nothing but outrage when they see this kind of blatant waste and abuse of the political system that has gone on for years and years and years.

“But that’s not the end of this sad story. Within this initial funding grant to Guam of $33 million is $9.6 million for the first phase of a mental health facility that advocates claim is somehow related to the proposed military buildup on Guam. I’m still trying to sort this argument out, but I have that odd feeling that to do so I must go down the rabbit hole to Alice in Wonderland. Without one additional Marine or their family being stationed on Guam, how does a proposed buildup that will not come until years in the future relate to the adequacy of mental health facilities on Guam now?

“Well, I’m glad that question came up, because it might not surprise you to learn that this money for a new mental health facility has nothing to do with any Marines coming to Guam now or in the future, but is instead required to satisfy a current federal injunction that mandates the construction of a new facility. And, of course, this $9.6 million dollars of pork in the FY12 Defense Appropriations bill is only the down payment, the ‘nose of the camel under the tent’ you might say, because to complete the facility as required to satisfy the already existing federal injunction against Guam, another $33 million will be required next year in 2013 to finish out the project as well as building a new public health laboratory. Wonderful! The Department of Defense will have invested nearly $43 million dollars in a brand-spanking new mental health facility and a public health laboratory before one new Marine or their family ever touches soil on Guam. And, of course, if Congress decides that the U.S. taxpayer cannot afford to spend $20 billion or more for a permanent and extensive force posture buildup on Guam, at least Guam will have gotten a $43 million dollar payoff from the Defense Appropriators that gets Guam off the hook with their pending injunction. It sure is good to have friends in Washington, isn’t it?

“Our committee did the research for these projects on Guam. We reviewed the working papers of the Department of Defense’s Economic Adjustment Committee, excerpts of which I ask unanimous consent be inserted into the record. We realized that this funding would not go to defense priorities and decided as a Conference not to support their authorizations.

“As it should be clear by now, these expenditures, pushed through in direct contravention of the bipartisan, bicameral decisions of the Armed Services Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives, are nothing more than a shameful, disgusting waste of taxpayers’ money and in my view a classic example of political abuse of the appropriations process.

“This is not the way Congress is supposed to work. Authorizing committees exist to provide specific congressional approval of Federal spending. Appropriations committees and subcommittees exist to take the available Federal dollars and allocate them to programs consistent with the authorizations that have been provided by the authorizing committees. In no way do appropriations committees have the legitimate authority to override the specific direction of authorizing committees when those authorizing committees have spoken to a matter and denied authority for a specific type or level of funding. This is an extreme, but useful, example to show exactly why American voters are so fed up with Congress. This is exactly why the approval rating of Congress is in the single digits. The American people have seen this kind of abuse and waste for far too often, and they have had enough of it. They are convinced Congress never learns. And by this example, it’s hard to say they are wrong. In fact, this sort of complete waste and abuse of the taxpayers’ money proves they are exactly right.

“If you don’t understand the rise of the Tea Party, you can start by looking right here.

“And it is not as if this issue was somehow hidden from the leadership of the Appropriations Committee. I would like unanimous consent to insert into the record the letter I sent yesterday to Chairman Inouye and Vice Chairman Cochran of the Senate Appropriations Committee highlighting this exact issue and my concerns about it. No, this is not about ‘not knowing what was going on’ this is about ‘business as usual’ and it will cost every Member of this body and the chamber on the other side of the Capitol because voter outrage over this kind of waste of their money has never been higher. And I can’t blame them. Who could?

MEADS

“Another example of the broken appropriations process is demonstrated in this bill’s funding of the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). This program should have been terminated in FY12, as originally proposed in the Senate version of the Defense Authorization bill. Instead, the Defense Appropriations portion of the Omnibus funds MEADS at $390 million, nearly the entire $406 million requested for this year.

“Upon learning that the Appropriators were going to fund this program – which Army leaders have told the Senate they do not intend to ever buy or deploy – I felt compelled to ensure that the final FY12 Defense Authorization Conference Report we adopted last night prohibits any MEADS appropriations beyond FY12. Under the requirements imposed by the Defense Authorization Conference Report, this year’s funding will be significantly restrained by prohibiting the Department from spending more than 25 percent until the Secretary of Defense provides a plan to either restructure the program in a way that requires no additional funding or terminates the program.

This report from the Secretary must include a plan for ending the program for at least $400 million less and one year sooner than the President’s request. While this action would not have been necessary if the Appropriations committee had not ignored the unanimous direction of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I remain committed to holding Congress accountable to both our men and women in harm’s way and the American taxpayer.

“Any decision to continue to fund troubled programs like MEADS are simply unacceptable at a time when we face unprecedented cuts in Defense spending. The Senate Armed Services Committee will give MEADS the highest level of scrutiny to ensure this program is ended on the terms set out in the Defense Authorization Conference Report.

NEXT GENERATION BOMBER

“The Appropriators also chose a different path than the Defense Authorizing Committees on the Next Generation Strategic Bomber. Instead of holding funding to the President’s Budget request, the Appropriators chose to add an additional $100 million dollars – more than was recently authorized in the National Defense Authorization Act.

“This is money for the NexGen Bomber that was not requested by the Air Force, nor was there any testimony by Air Force leadership – either civilian or military – in support of this additional huge plus up in funding. It magically appeared in the Appropriations Conference Report – out of thin air. This morning, I asked my staff to find out if this money would be wisely spent. The answer was, to be blunt, ‘No.’

“The Air Force Chief of Staff’s office responded as follows:

• “Not only did they not request the funding, they don’t want it;

• “The money ‘is ahead of need,’ meaning that that it could not be applied to the program in an effective or efficient manner;

• “The Analysis of Alternatives, which helps determine what the capability of the bomber should be and helps determines requirements, will not be completed for another year and half from now;

• “The Capabilities Requirement Document, which is key to ensuring that the new bomber design is stable – which is needed to determining if increased taxpayers’ dollars should be invested in the new bomber, is NOT complete and will NOT be complete for a couple of years – at best.

• “Finally, the current B-52, B-1 and B-2 sustainment and modernization programs were cut by the Appropriations staff to help pay for this $100 million plus up for the Next-Generation Bomber. The Air Force told my staff this morning that they would prefer the money to go to help modernize legacy bomber programs, as the Air Force had requested, instead of going towards the Next-Generation Bomber. If this additional, unrequested funding is enacted, as it almost surely will be, we will almost certainly be dealing with this same $100 million again as the source for a reprogramming request by the Air Force to move the money back to where it is needed – for sustainment of the legacy bomber fleet.

COMBAT DRAGON

“Of the approximately 100 unrequested and unauthorized additions above the President’s Budget request found in the Defense Appropriations bill, one of the more concerning is a $20 million allocation for an obscure aircraft program called ‘Combat Dragon II.’ Although the name is interesting and sounds threatening enough – you won’t find it in the President’s Defense Budget request, nor did it appear in the Defense Authorization bill. So, again, I asked staff to pull the string on it and see what unraveled.

“The purpose of the program is to lease up to four crop-duster-type aircraft and to outfit them with machine gun pods, laser-guided bombs, rockets and air-to-air missiles. So, I directed my staff to see if this alleged requirement was justified and properly vetted and approved within the Pentagon by a Joint Urgent Operational Needs Statement, since it was not in the Administration’s budget request. Once again the answer was a resounding ‘No’ – there is NO urgent operational requirement for this type of aircraft. So, why do we need it and why is it funded?

“After turning over the right rocks, we found that this aircraft lease will not be competitively awarded – shades of the infamous tanker lease program – and as such is effectively earmarked for a particular aircraft manufacturer who has the corner on this particularly obscure part of the aviation market. This past summer ‘Aviation Week & Space Technology’ magazine wrote about a similar close air support aircraft program created by Lockheed Martin and Hawker Beechcraft.

“The current close-air support workhorse-aircraft for the military is the A-10 Warthog. Over the past 5 years, the Air Force has spent hundreds of millions of dollars each year for the last five years upgrading and modernizing the A-10 by re-winging, adding additional navigational and communication gear, and improving weapon delivery systems.

“During these austere budget times, can the taxpayers afford to waste taxpayers dollars on a duplicative close air support program without any clear, defined requirement? I don’t think so and nor does any independent military expert.

C-17 AIRCRAFT

“The Defense Appropriations bill also adds $225 million for an unrequested, unauthorized C-17 aircraft that no one in the Air Force or the Pentagon thought was needed in these tough fiscal times.

“According to every strategic planning document, the Air Force has an excess capacity of large cargo aircraft. The Air Force already has 222 C-17 cargo aircraft and more than 80 C-5 cargo aircraft. The Air Force is striving to ‘right size’ the strategic airlift fleet in the most effective and efficient way to meet our nation’s strategic airlift requirement. The Defense Authorization Conference report, passed yesterday by both the House and Senate and sent to the President contains a provision to lower the floor of large cargo aircraft from 316 to 301 aircraft and includes funding to shut down the Boeing C-17 production line, NOT authorization to build another aircraft.

“The key reason for an overage of large cargo aircraft is because the Appropriations Committees over the past several years added 44 C-17s that were not authorized and that we neither needed nor could afford, at a total cost of over $14 billion above the Department’s requests – in the form of earmarks.

“The Office of Management and Budget, five Secretaries of Defense, the current Commander of Transportation Command, the current Secretary of the Air Force, the current Chief Staff of the Air Force, and the current Commander of Air Mobility Command, have unanimously stated they do not need, nor can they afford to operate any more C-17 aircraft. In fact, the President appealed to the Congress that the Nation cannot afford any more C-17 cargo aircraft. You would think that after $14 billion dollars and 44 C-17s averaging over $250 million each would be enough of an earmark – not so for the Appropriations Committees.

OTHER PROVISIONS

“Mr. President, while the Department of Defense struggles to find more than $450 billion in cuts directed by the President, the Appropriations Committee continues to conduct business as usual by rewarding special interests and funding pet projects with vague objectives and limited or no utility to the Department. The Defense portion of the Omnibus contains some $3.5 billion in unrequested, unauthorized spending for items that are not core, high-priority Defense requirements. As you will see, Mr. President, many old favorites appear on the list.

• “We’ll start with the Air Force – $25 million for unrequested helicopter upgrades.

• “An increase to the Civil Air Patrol program of $7 million – unrequested and unauthorized. We are left to assume that the Air Force Auxiliary is a higher priority than the hundreds of programs which took budget cuts this year.

• “$273 million in unrequested, unauthorized Army research on everything from Parkinson’s disease and HIV to alternative energy and nanotechnology.

• “Speaking of alternate energy, the Appropriators tucked unrequested, unauthorized funding throughout Division A of the bill. $130 million in ambiguously named ‘alternative energy research’ is scattered for the same sorts of programs that brought us the recent achievement of the Department of Navy, which proudly announced the purchase of 450,000 gallons of alternative fuels for $12 million. This equates to over 26 dollars per gallon. No wonder the Department of the Navy needs more money in 2012 for higher fuel costs.

• “$262 million in unauthorized Navy research and development programs. The list of Navy adds is eerily similar to the Army’s, and as you would expect, Mr. President, it covers a familiar set of member interest items … nanotechnology, alternative energy, and giveaways to home state interests.

• “The bill includes $50 million in increases for ‘Space Situational Awareness’ in two separate funding lines with no accompanying justification. These unrequested adds are so vague that I am sure that Members will be calling into the Pentagon to be sure that the money goes where they intended. This is a sad, old game being played over and over again.

• “The budget requested $86 million for Operationally Responsive Space. This bill adds $25 million more, just for fun. The appropriators may have convinced themselves otherwise, but an additional $25 million will not solve our systemic space acquisition problems.

• “Mr. President, the Armed Services Committee authorized, and the Congress will soon appropriate, some $290 million for research into post-traumatic stress disorder, prosthetics, blast injury, and psychological health. These are critical to improving actual battlefield medicine. Yet once again, the appropriators inserted unrequested funding for medical research, this time to the tune of $600 million. Let me remind my colleagues that these unrequested projects are funded at the expense of other military priorities. While I agree that research on multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and cancer is meritorious, I restate my strong belief that it does not belong in the Defense Department budget.

• “Finally Mr. President, the Services report that the amount of equipment and its readiness in their Guard and Reserve units is so high that they have a serious need for new facilities to store all the equipment. Yet, the Appropriators provided the Guard and Reserve with a $1 billion in unrequested, unauthorized funding for ‘miscellaneous equipment.’ I’m sure certain States who are on the Appropriator’s short list will be very pleased to have the money directed their way – I’m not so sure about the taxpayers.

“It is quite a list. Some of these programs may have merit, but none them were requested by the Defense Department. This should be instructive to my colleagues since the Pentagon – certainly no shrinking violet – tends to ask for what it needs. But in these times, Secretary Panetta is looking at every program to determine how he can achieve the enormous cuts of over $450 billion that the President has already ordered him to take. Thus, every dollar that Congress adds that is not a priority for the Pentagon makes the burden of funding the Pentagon’s real priorities that much more difficult.

OTHER ISSUES

“Mr. President, if the Senate had done its job and allowed for appropriations bills to be considered in regular order, I would have offered a bipartisan amendment, cosponsored by Senator Rockefeller and 13 other Senators, to the Financial Services Appropriations bill. This important amendment would have prohibited bonuses for Senior Executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while they are in taxpayer-backed conservatorship.

“Since they were placed in conservatorship in 2008, these two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) have soaked the American taxpayer for nearly $170 billion in bailouts. And recently Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae requested an additional $13.8 billion more that is coming out the pockets of hardworking Americans – many of which are underwater on their mortgages.

“With that in mind Mr. President, it is unconscionable that their federal regulator had the audacity to approve $12.8 million in executive bonuses – to people who make $900,000 per year! This body should be ashamed if we let this happen again – especially in these tough economic times. Every day more and more Americans are losing their jobs and their homes and we’re allowing these people to take home annual salaries of $900,000 and bonuses of $12.8 million – all while they ask the taxpayers for billions more in bailout money.

“Even more alarming is the justification for these outrageous bonuses by Edward DeMarco, the acting director of the FHFA. Mr. DeMarco argues that – in order to get the best people in place – we need to pay them outrageous amounts of taxpayer dollars. Well, I’m not buying that argument. It is ridiculous to tell the American taxpayer ‘look … we lost a bunch of your money – so we need to pay these smart guys millions of dollars of your money so that we don’t lose the rest of your money.’ The American people are smart enough to see through that sham logic and they are angry.

“As I have previously stated on the Senate floor, I find it hard to believe that we cannot find talented people with the skills necessary to manage Fannie and Freddie for good money – $900,000 – without the incentive of multi-million dollar bonuses. There are many examples of intelligent, well qualified, patriotic individuals working in our federal government who make significantly less than the top executives at Fannie and Freddie and have just as much, if not more responsibility. For example:

• “The basic pay for a 4-Star General is $179,700 – including Basic Allowance for Housing that figure rises to $214,980;

• “Chief Justice Roberts makes $223,500 a year; and

• “The President’s Cabinet Members make $199,700 a year.

“While millions of Americans are out of work, underwater on their mortgages, and losing their homes, we cannot justify paying millions in unnecessary, unearned bonuses with their hard earned tax dollars. However, due to lack of priorities in the Senate, I was never able to offer my amendment.

“Mr. President, if the Senate would have done its job and moved forward in regular order with the Energy and Water Appropriations bills, I would have offered an amendment that would require a top-down review of non-competitive contracts issued by the Army Corps to Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs).

“We need to be especially mindful of how taxpayer dollars are appropriated to the Army Corps in light of a recent Justice Department investigation that revealed what prosecutors call ‘one of the largest bribery scandals in U.S. history’ involving Army Corps contracting officials and the contracting director of Eyak Technology, an ANC-owned company.

“This particular ANC company, EyakTek, saw their employee fraudulently inflate quotes for IT services and billing the Army Corp about $20 million, which was then paid as kickbacks that were used to buy real estate, BMWs, fancy watches and clothing, and first class airline tickets around the world.

“Congress can’t allow these kinds of brazen abuses go unanswered. Unfortunately, leadership yanked the Energy and Water appropriations bill from the floor just a few weeks ago and my amendment was never considered.

“In addition, I would have offered an amendment to the Energy and Water Appropriations bill that would have ensured that private investors are not put before taxpayers in the event of a default of a loan guarantee – as happened with the Solyndra loan guarantee championed by the Obama Administration.

“At the urging of energy industry lobbyists, the Obama Administration reinterpreted section 1702 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 regarding the general terms and conditions for loan guarantees. This reinterpretation allowed the Secretary of Energy Steven Chu to restructure loan guarantees and in some cases, such as with Solyndra, place private investors before taxpayers in the repayment line in the event of a default by a loan recipient.

“In the case of Solyndra, private investors will collect the first $69 million that can be recovered from the company; taxpayers that were placed in a second class position by DOE may collect the remaining proceeds, if any.

“It was never the intention of Congress to make taxpayers subordinate on these loan guarantees. In fact, it was the intent of Congress to do the exact opposite and keep taxpayers at the front of the repayment line.

“This was a sensible amendment to clarify that in the event of a default of a loan guarantee, taxpayers are at the front of the line for repayment. Unfortunately, given the broken process the Senate is operating under, I did not have the opportunity to offer it.

“If the Senate would have done its job and considered the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill in regular order, I would have worked with my colleague Dr. Coburn to restore much needed funding to the Government Accountability Office. In a recent report released by Dr. Coburn he highlights and I quote ‘just this year GAO identified hundreds of billions of dollars of duplicative and overlapping programs that, if addressed by Congress, could both save money and improve services for taxpayers. For every $1 spent on GAO, the agency provides $90 in savings recommendations. Yet, instead of adopting these good government reforms, the Senate Appropriations Committee has responded by proposing dramatic budget cuts to the GAO budget.’

“While I do think it is essential that every agency including the GAO eliminate wasteful spending, I believe it is in the best interest of this body to ensure that the GAO has the necessary funding to aid Congress with its oversight responsibility.

“Mr. President, the American people are struggling through record unemployment and are under unprecedented fiscal pressure. They need strong leaders willing to make tough decisions to restore fiscal discipline and responsible governance. The Armed Services Committee went to great lengths this year to authorize defense spending for the most critical national security requirements as proposed by the President and Defense leadership. Nevertheless, the Appropriations Committee has reported a bill that improperly appropriates without authorization $3.5 billion for unrequested programs for the Department of Defense and in some specific cases, such as funding for Guam’s non-Defense civilian infrastructure projects, directly contradicts the explicit limits provided by the FY 2012 Defense Authorization Conference Report.

“I say to my colleagues that we can do better. We can and must improve the process of authorizing and appropriating. Since we know what the problem is, we must now fix it by allowing the authorizing committees to bring their bills to the floor and actually authorize federal spending. The appropriations bills – all of them – should reflect the will of the authorizing committees. I intend to work with my colleagues to remedy this problem. The will of all Senators, not just a select few, should be represented when we pass appropriations legislation.

“The American people deserve better than what is happening here in the Senate today. They are tired of wasteful spending that has led to the current fiscal crisis our country is facing. They are expect us, rightfully so, to be good stewards of their hard earned taxpayer dollars but unfortunately that is not the case today. We cannot continue with business as usual, therefore, I will not be voting for this Omnibus appropriations bill, and I encourage all of my colleagues to oppose it as well.”

##

20 Efforts to Remember & Repatriate Tripoli Naval Heroes

2011-12-18T22:37:00.000-08:00

Chronicles of 20 efforts to ensure the remembrance and repatriate the remains of Richard Somers and the men of the Intrepid – 1804 – 2012 By William Kelly

“Somers, Wadsworth, Israel & Decatur...whose names ought to live in the recollection and affection of a grateful country, and whose conduct ought to be regarded as an example to future generations.” – Congressional Resolution 1805

From the time they were buried at Tripoli Harbor on September 5, 1804, efforts were made to ensure the men of the USS Intrepid were not forgotten and to repatriate their remains home. I have documented nearly twenty such efforts.

1) At Burial. The detail of American prisoners who buried them, led by Dr. Jonathan Cowdery, clearly marked their graves, so they could later be located, placing rocks at the four corners and a cross, which were removed by the Arabs.

According to one account, “...All of the thirteen bodies were recovered,....Dr. Cowdery (U.S surgeon of the captured USS Philadelphia) distinctly states in his journal that he...was able to pick out three of them as officers, although of course it was not known in Tripoli how many officers were in the party, or how many in all. His opinion was based on the softness of their hands and a few fragments of clothing...The bodies were buried south of the town, the three supposed officers by themselves.”

Another report states, “(Captain) Bainbridge and his men buried them on the beach and erected…a fieldstone above them...to protect against the ravages of wild dogs that took the place of scavengers and street cleaners in Tripoli. The little wooden crosses they set up were knocked down by the populace as abhorment to their faith.”

2) James F. Cooper wrote a history of the early Navy and a profile of Richard Somers in which he reported that after they died, “...The ten seamen were buried on the beach outside the town near the walls; while the three officers were interred in the same grave, on the plain beyond, or cable’s length [720 feet] to the southward and eastward of the earth. Small stones were placed at the four corners of the last grave, to mark its site; but they were shortly after removed by the Turks, who refused to let what they conceived to be a Christian monument, disfigure their land.”

3) In the course of attempting to get the Tripoli Repatriation Amendment passed, the Senate Armed Services Committee staff suggested that a “Sense of Congress” resolution be substituted. But that was rejected because it lacked backbone, and besides in 1805 Congress had already passed a resolution honoring the men, specifically mentioning the officers:

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the thanks of Congress be, and the same are hereby presented to Commodore Edward Preble, and through him to the officers, petty officers, seamen and marines attached to the squadron under his command, for their gallantry and good conduct, displayed in the several attacks on the town, batteries and naval force of Tripoli, in the year one thousand eight hundred and four.

Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to cause a gold medal to be struck, emblematical of the attacks on the town, batteries and naval force of Tripoli, by the squadron under Commodore Preble's command, and to present it to Commodore Preble, in such manner as in his opinion will be most honourable to him. And that the President be further requested to cause a sword to be presented to each of the commissioned officers and midshipmen who have distinguished themselves in the several attacks.

Resolved, That one month's pay be allowed exclusively of the common allowance to all the petty officers, seamen and marines of the squadron, who so gloriously supported the honour of the American flag, under the orders of their gallant commander in the several attacks.

Resolved, That the President of the United States be also requested to communicate to the parents or other near relatives of Captain Richard Somers, lieutenants Henry Wadsworth, James Decatur, James R. Caldwell, Joseph Israel, and midshipman John Sword Dorsey, the deep regret which Congress feel for the loss of those gallant men, whose names ought to live in the recollection and affection of a grateful country, and whose conduct ought to be regarded as an example to future generations. APPROVED, March 3, 1805.

4) Tripoli Monument - One of the prisoners being held for ransom in the dungeons of the old castle fort was Lt. David Porter, first officer of the captured frigate Philadelphia. Once he was freed Porter took up a collection from his fellow officers who fought in the Barbary wars and erected a monument, America’s first war monument to the officers who gave their lives at Tripoli. One indication of their intention to repatriate and rebury the remains is the Latin inscription carved on the side of the Tripoli monument that reads: "Hic decorae functorum in bello virorum cineres," or "Here are the noble remains of men who did their duty in war," clearly indicating that they intended the monument to be a grave stone for the officers, once their remains were repatriated home.

5) Somers Monument. In Somers Point, N.J., home of Intrepid commander Richard Somers, his sister Sarah Somers Kean had a monument erected, which also serves as a gravestone, so he wouldn’t be forgotten and that people would remember that he was buried in Tripoli. Sarah’s other brother Constant died in a maritime accident in Russia and was buried at sea, and they didn’t expect his remains to be returned, but they knew of the circumstances of Richard’s death and the location of his grave and always considered the possibility that his remains would someday be repatriated. In the old family burial ground near Somers Point, enclosed by a brick wall, is a cenotaph, whereon is chiseled;

IN MEMORY OF
RICHARD SOMERS
SON OF RICHARD AND SOPHIA SOMERS
MASTER COMMANDANT
IN THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES,
BORN SEPTEMBER 15, 1778.

He perished in the 25th year of his age, in the ketch Intrepid,
In the memorable attempt to destroy the Turkish flotilla, in the
Harbor of Tripoli, on the night of 4th of September, 1804.

DISTINGUISHED FOR HIS ENERGY,
HIS COUAGE AND HIS MANLY SENSE OF HONOR.

“Pro Partia non timidus mori.”
"unafraid to die for his country"

6) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In New England the death of the Intrepid’s first officer Lt. Henry Wadsworth greatly affected their old and prosperous family and in 1807, Wadsworth’s sister named her first born son Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who would go on to become a renown historical poet and author of such classics as “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.”

7) USS Somers - Ships. The Navy also remembered Somers and wanted to share his legacy by naming six ships after him, the first a schooner, and the second a training vessel for new midshipmen. This second USS Somers became famous as the only ship in the US naval history on which a mutiny is alleged to have occurred when three young midshipmen were hung from the yardarm after being found with notes bearing secret writing and rumors of an alleged mutiny. The story would inspire Henry Mellville (“Moby Dick”) to write “Billy Budd” and the Navy to begin the Naval Academy.

8) The US Navy Academy. One of the midshipmen hung for mutiny on the USS Somers was the son of the Secretary of War, and the resulting scandal ended the training of midshipmen at sea and the establishment of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis. The Tripoli Monument, which had been scorched by the British when they burned Washington in 1812, had been moved from the Washington Naval Yard to the front lawn of Congress, and was then moved again to Annapolis, where it stands today.

9) Somers, New York. Somers, as well as other officers from the Barbary Wars, were well known naval heroes whose legacy grew with time, and besides ships, city streets and entire towns were named after them – including Somers, New York, where a bust of Richard Somers graces the local veteran’s cemetery.

10) That the mass graves in Triopli were not sufficient places for them to rest forever was eloquently expressed in 1850 by James Finemore Cooper, who would write such literary classics as “Last of the Mohicans” and “The Deerslayer,” as well as a history of the US Navy, wrote extensively about Somers. Like Somers, Cooper was a fellow resident of West Jersey, and suggested Somers’ remains be repatriated when he wrote, “Here, then, lie the remains of Somers, and his two gallant friends; and it might be well to instruct the commander of some national cruiser to search for their bones, that they might be finally incorporated with the dust of their native land. Their identity would at once be established by the number of the skeletons, and the friends of the deceased might find a melancholy consolation in being permitted to drop a tear over the spot in which they would be finally entombed.” But it would be many years before anyone would act on the suggestion.

11) The new Senate-House Armed Services Committee conference report requests precedent be cited, and John Paul Jones is one big precedent. Teddy Roosevelt, the hero of San Juan Hill, learned that the remains of John Paul Jones were buried in a discarded crypt in Paris, so in 1905 he had Jones repatriated from his Parisian crypt to the chapel at the Navy academy, and did so with much fanfare. Roosevelt used the occasion for political grandstanding and garnered the support of the American people for the maintenance of a strong navy.

11) Previous reburial. In Tripoli the graves of the Americans lay undisturbed until 1930 when the Italians occupied Libya and the remains of five of the thirteen men were uncovered by an Italian army road crew and reburied at the Old Protestant Cemetery nearby. A Libyan study of the cemetery has shown that more than half of those buried there have been removed and reburied in more fitting locations.

12) What Teddy did with John Paul Jones may have been on the mind of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 when he ordered the American Embassy in Rome to try to locate the graves of the men of the Intrepid. Tripoli Harbor Master Mustafa Burchis took up the quest and after thorough investigation, discovered the Old Protestant Cemetery was built in 1830 around the graves of some already existing graves. Burchis identified five crypts at the cemetery as the remains of the men of the Intrepid, and wrote a detailed report that was among the papers destroyed at the American embassy in Rome during World War II.

After the war Burchis introduced himself to the new American ambassador who, along with the US Navy and local Arab civic leaders, held a ceremony at the cemetery graves in 1949, when they placed markers indicating which graves were the Americans from the Intrepid. In her biography Richard Somers, Glory at Last, Barbara Koedel wrote, “In 1949, as a result of research by Mustafa Burchis, harbor master of Tripoli, and the United States Counsul Orray Taft, Jr., the graves of five men killed from the explosion of the Intrepid on 4 September 1804 were found in the Protestant Cemetery there. On April 2, 1949, the U.S.S. Spokane put in at Tripoli. In a short address, Rear Admiral Cruzen spoke of the exploits in the Barbary War; Captain W. J. Marshall narrated the Intrepid mission; and Consul Taft told of the research to identify the graves and unveiled a plaque: “In honored memory of five unknown American seamen buried here who died in the explosion of the USS Intrepid, Tripoli Harbor, 1804.’ Captain Lt. E. J. Sheridan read a short paper; an honor guard of Marines fired several volleys over the graves and played taps.” A photo of the graves, with U.S. Counsel Orray Taft, Jr., Rear Admiral Richard Cruzen, Capt. W. J. Marshall and Prince Taher Bay Karamanli standing above it is posted on the internet [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-s/cl120-m.htm ] and available from the Navy Archives.

14) In the 1960s, Air Force Major Jack Templeton visited the graves while stationed at Wheeler Air Force base. He wrote a letter to the New York Times correcting the record in that, “As a USAF pilot stationed in Libya for three years, living in Tripoli, I can attest to a simple grave site in the center of town (100 yards from the shore) with the names of five U.S. Marines who lost their lives there, ‘On the shores of Tripoli.’” Templeton also visited the park near the castle where he recognized the original, unmarked mass graves at what is now Martyrs Square.

15) The graves were then maintained for the next thirty years by the Officer’s Wives Club of nearby Wheelus Air Force base until 1969, when Mummar Gadhafi took over in a coup, kicked out the Americans. Some of those who died at the base, including many children who were buried at a base cemetery were quietly repatriated home with little fanfare or an Act of Congress in 2007.

16) Without any care or maintenance, the Old Protestant Cemetery was in a sad state of affairs in 1977 when two American tourists from North Jersey stumbled upon them, overgrown with weeds – and wrote about it in American Legion Magazine. The commander of the Leona, NJ American Legion who read the report, began a pro-active effort to repatriate the remains from Tripoli, and garnered the support of other veterans and Congressman, who introduced legislation to have them repatriated.

While there was some resistance to the effort, most of it was mainly indifference, at least on the part of Navy academy graduate President Jimmy Carter and New Jersey governor Brendan Byrne. N.J. Sen. Harrison Williams agreed with the cause however, and others tried to get administrative action through the Secretary of the Navy, to no avail.

17) In Somers Point, the Atlantic County Historical Society endorsed the repatriation effort and they convinced their representative Rep. William Hughes (2nd NJ) to sponsor legislation to reserve graves for the men of the Intrepid at Arlington National Cemetery, ensuring that it be known that repatriation of the remains of these men from Tripoli was always the intention of Congress, even when such repatriation was impossible. At the time, US – Libya relations had deteriorated considerably, and President Ronald Reagan ordered the bombing of Tripoli. The Navy Secretary at the time, John Lehman of Ocean City, was a neighbor to Somers Point and a navy historian who is quite familiar with the story of Somers.

18) In the late 1990s, members of the Somers family and civic leaders from Somers Point asked their representative in Congress Frank LoBiondo (R. 2nd), who had replaced Hughes, to see what he could do, and the State Department explained that without diplomatic relations nothing could be done. Contacting the Gadhafi Charities Foundation, they also enlisted the support of the Gadhafi family and received permission to repatriate the remains, and Libya archeologist discovered a mass graves with bones and buttons. Professor Benjamin Barber, the only American on the board of the Gadhafi Foundation, talked to American Ambassador Gene Cretz, who voiced his support for repatriation, but the only opposition came from the US Navy, and the deterioration of relations prevented further recovery.

19) In 2007, another precedent was set when the remains of 70 children and persons associated with Wheelus Air Force Base were dug up and flown to Dover AFB in Delaware and reburied with little notice. The remains are believed to be family members of airmen once stationed them. Plans to reduce the size of the cemetery prompted the transfer. Air Force officials did not release information on the repatriation due to the State Department's concern over the fragile relationship between the two countries.

20) Shortly after the revolution began in Libya in February 2011, Somers Point civic leaders, members of the Somers family and local historians thought that the changes in Libya might set the stage for the possibility of repatriation. A contingent traveled to Washington DC in June and met with Rep. Frank LoBiondo and Rep. Mike Rogers(D. Mich).

LoBiondo had asked the advice of Rogers, the powerful chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and an Army veteran. Rogers then wrote a bill calling for the Secretary of Defense to repatriate the remains of the men of the Intrepid in Tripoli, which he then attached to the 2012 Defense Authorization Act as an amendment. It passed the House with no opposition and quickly picked up bi-partisan support in the Senate, where it was co-sponsored by Senators Dean Heller (R. Nev.), Boozman (R. Ark.), Stowe and Collins of Maine, Kerry & Brown of Massachusetts and both New Jersey Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez.

As the 2012 DAA moved towards a full Senate vote it appeared 90% chance of passage, but the amendment was suddenly removed by Sen. John McClain (R. Az), who did so at the behest of Navy brass, who are against repatriation. When the House and Senate bills were rejoined in Conference, to sort out their differences, ten US Senators signed a letter asking that the Tripoli Repatriation amendment be re-attached to the final bill, but instead the amendment was removed from the table and consideration all together, and without explanation, by Rep. Buck McKeon, another supposed friend of the military and veterans.

Despite the support of the Somers and Wadsworth families, the citizens and civic leaders of Somers Point, millions of veterans affiliated with the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, the New Jersey state legislature, the US House of Representatives and ten U.S. Senators, two men were able to kill the legislation - McCain in the Senate and McKeon in the House.

Pressing the matter in Conference, Rep. Frank LoBiondo, with strong support from Rep. Mike Rogers and Sen. Heller, forced the issue by requiring the military to include an evaluation and report. As soon as the bill is signed in to law, they will begin to study the matter in depth and report back within nine months, or by next September.

The Congressmen may wait until the report is issued or they may consider reintroducing the Tripoli Repatriation as a stand alone resolution and hope to get it out of committee and on to the floor for a vote by early next year, which will take over 200 co-sponsors to ensure its passage. Or they could issue a less powerful “Sense of Congress” resolution that will clearly state the position of Congress on the matter and can be voted on with less red tape, but will not have the backbone of a law.

The bottom line is the remains of Lt. Richard Somers and the crew of the Intrepid should be treated with the same policy, tradition and respect as those who sacrifice their lives today. The U.S. Military shouldn’t have two policies, one for those born before a certain war, and another for those from an earlier time, but treat everyone who fights and dies in the line of duty in the same way.

The POWMP command, responsible for the retrieval of the remains of American military killed in any foreign country, do this routinely and professionally. They are historians, investigators, archeologists and forensic pathologist who can and will properly remove the remains of all the Americans buried there, if given the mission. The graves will be studied, the remains will be evaluated, identified if possible, and returned to the USA via Dover AFB, where all military casualties are processed before being buried with full military honors due them.

The Conference Report on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Section 598, is titled, “Evaluation of Issues Affecting Disposition of remains of American Sailors Killed in the Explosion of the Ketch USS INTREPID in Tripoli Harbor on September 4, 1804.”

This section of the Conference Report on the NDAA requires an evaluation be conducted and completed not later than 270 days – that’s nine months after the date of the enactment of this act, which occurs when the bill is passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President.

At that time the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Navy shall begin to conduct an evaluation of the following issues with respect to the disposition of the remains of American sailors killed in the explosion of the Ketch USS INTREPID in Tripoli Harbor on September 4, 1804 – “the feasibility of recovery of remains based on historical information, factual consideration, costs, and precedential effect, the ability to make identifications of the remains within a two-year period based on conditions and facts that would have to exist for positive scientific identification of the remains.”

In addition, it must consider “the diplomatic and inter-governmental issues that would have to be addressed in order to provide for exhuming and removing the remains consistent with the sovereignty of the Libyan Government” and include the consultation with the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Navy, the Defense POW/MP office, Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Secretary of State.

After completion of the evaluation they are “to make a recommendation regarding the proposal to exhume, identify, and relocate the remains of the American sailors referred to in such subsection and the reasons supporting their recommendation.”

Previous Studies & Reports on Tripoli

2011-12-18T21:58:00.000-08:00

STUDIES AND REPORTS on the Tripoli Graves of US Navy Intrepid Sailors

PREVIOUS STUDIES – REPORTS –

The recently commissioned evaluation by the Senate-House Armed Services Committee Conference Report on the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, should not start at the beginning and end up where we are now, and just bring everybody up to speed and on the same page. It must begin where we are now and move forward and discover new things that we don’t know today. For that to happen there must be a compilation of all of what we know and combine that in one place as a foundation for what the new report can be built on.

There have been previous studies and reports, by the military in particular, an an FOIA request should obtain all the records the military has on this subject, but from open source records we know of over a dozen official and private inquiries and their subsequent reports on the Tripoli graves of the men of the Intrepid.

1) At the time contemporary reports were written by
a: Capt. Edward Preble Log Sept. 1804; “September 4th – Sent in the Intrepid Fire Ship; lost captain Somes, Lt. Wadsworth and Israel.”
b: Capt. Bainbridge Log Sept. 1804
c: Dr. Cowdery;American captives in Tripoli:Narratives of Barbary captivity: recollections James Leander Cathcart, Jonathan Cowdery, and William Ray
d: Lt. David Porter Title: David Porter and David Dixon Porter papers Creator: William L. Clements Library Manuscripts Division William L. Clements Library University of Michigan Finding aid for David Porter and David Dixon Porter Papers, 1803-1889vInclusive dates: 1803-1889 Extent: 4 linear feet

2) In addition there are historical reports from later years, specifically by J. F. Cooper and Dr. J.B. Somers. Cooper, James Finimore. History. The History of the Navy of the United States of America: Abridged in One Volume (Phila. Thomas, Cowperthwaite, 1841) Cooper, James Fenimore, History of the Navy of the United States. New York: Stinger and Townsend, 1856. 2 Volumes. Cooper, James Fenimore, Lives of Distinguished American Naval Officers. Philadelphia: Carey and Hart, 1846. 2 Volumes; Also: Somers, J.B., M.D., Biography. Life of Richard Somers – A Master Commandant In The U.S. Navy (Collins, Phila. 1886, Reprinted by Atlantic County Historical Society, 2004).

3) There’s also the Naval Institute accounts of Mustapha Burchis –w/ Miller, Lt. (j.g.) Arthur P. Jr. “Tripoli Graves Discovered. *U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, April 1950. 1938-1948-1949 Ceremony – Naval Institute – Martin/J. Burchis, Mustapha, and Johnson, Arthur M., Resting Place of Heroes of the BarbaryWars (Proceedings, U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, Sept. 1956, 969-973). Johnson, Arthur M.; w/ Burchis, M. – Lost But Not Forgotten – The Final Resting Place of Heroes of the Barbary Wars – U.S. Naval Institute Proceeding, p. 969-73 Sept. 1956. Martin, Tyrone G., A Most Fortunate Ship (Annapolis Naval Institute Press, 1997) [Former Capt. USS Somers] http://remembertheintrepid.blogspot.com/2011/10/lost-but-not-forgotten-americans.html
The NIP mentions Burchis' 1938 report and two reports from the US Embassy in Rome to State Dept.

4) American tourist Edmunds, Melba, American Legion Magazine Report (May, 1977) http://remembertheintrepid.blogspot.com/2011/09/american-legion-magazine-may-1977.html

5) New Jersey Historian Frank Kemp – Franklyn, in the 1970s, corresponded with Italian soldier who moved remains. Kemp left letter with Mrs. Ray Steelman of Margate, NJ.

6) The Libyan Arab Amer Al-Tawil wrote The Secret History of Old Protestant Cemetery, Book – Amer Al-Tawil, Abdu Hakim, (Tripoli: Libya; Libyan Center for Historical Studies, 2008)P.O. Box:15038 Hadba Tripoli, Libya.

7) Congressional Researcher - Anne Leland was assigned to research and write a report on the cemetery for – Congressional Research Service(Did report on Cemetery Site).

8) Col. Olga Kripmer – of the DOD POWMP office – ( went to the scene and wrote report on cemetery site)

9) Miller, Capt. Gregory USNR – Capt. Gregory Miller, USNR CNE-C6F – was at the scene, met Dr. Anag, obtained copy of The Secret History of OPC and reported to Navy Reserves.
http://remembertheintrepid.blogspot.com/2009/09/capt-greg-miller-at-cemetery.html

10) Somers family and Somers Point civic leaders, w/Michael Caputo initiate private effort.
http://remembertheintrepid.blogspot.com/2008/04/chronology-richard-somers-1775-october_03.html

11) Dickon, Chris, wrote The Foreign Burial of American War Dead – A History (MacFarland Pub. NC, 2011) http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-4612-4

12) Douglas Chipp Reid – writing book.

13) Dept. of State Reports: Joan Polaschik (2010) Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, and Ambassador Cretz regarding the Libyan government’s ongoing efforts to renovate and restore this historic property...the Libyan government undertook this effort in June, as part of an overall plan to redevelop the seaside area immediately surrounding the cemetery. At our request, the Libyan government limited its work to the cemetery’s exterior walls, and commissioned a detailed study of the interior. Based on this study, the Libyan government has developed plans to restore the grave markers. Based on our review of the plans and discussion with the Libyan Department of Archeology and Antiquities, we are confident that the Libyan government will undertake this restoration in way that is historically and culturally appropriate, and in accordance with the respect due to U.S. service members. Any interior elements of the graves will not be touched. The Libyan government should begin the restoration of the grave markers very soon. It appears that the Libyan government is prepared to pay for all of the restoration work. However, it’s unclear to what extent the Libyan government plans to pay for future maintenance, or whether it would be willing to create and/or pay for any signage or plaques explaining the significance of the site. We hope to meet with Libyan officials over the next few weeks to clarify these issues. It’s also unclear to what extent the U.S. government will be able to pay for or support any future maintenance. After the embassy confirmed that cemetery is indeed U.S. diplomatic property, we launched an intensive effort to find a U.S. government agency that will be responsible for the cemetery’s continued care. Unfortunately, no one has stepped up to the plate yet, and the embassy has been instructed to do the best it can. We plan to nominate the cemetery for inclusion in the Secretary of State’s Register of Culturally Significant Properties, which is very similar to the National Register of Historic Places maintained by the Secretary of Interior, and hopefully could provide a source of funding and oversight for this very special site....

14) In 2007, the American Cemetery at Wheelus AFB in Tripoli relocated the remains of 70 Americans, mainly children, to Dover AFB, Delaware. See: Air Force searches for kin of Americans buried at former base in Libya by Scott Schonauer Stars and Stripes, European Edition, May 19th, 2007

15) US Embassy Triopli Reports -US Military Also see US-Libya Relations Report: 2001

16) CRS Report for Congress Libya: Background and U.S. Relations Updated August 6, 2008 http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/109510.pdf Christopher M. Blanchard Analyst in Middle Eastern Affairs Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Congressional Research Service. Libya: Background and U.S. Relations.

CRS-39 Appendix A: Libya’s Pre-Qadhafi History Libya’s Colonial Experience
The Ottoman Empire and Qaramanli Dynasty. Ottoman forces first occupied the coatal regions of the territory that now constitutes Libya in the mid-16th century. However, ottoman administrators faced stiff and near constant resistance from trial confederatiohns and a rival independent state in the Fezzan region, all of which limited the Ottomans’ political influence. Beginning in 1711, a semi-independent sate under Turkish official Ahmed Qaramanli emerged in Tripoli and established control over the Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, with Fezzan remaining contested. The Qaramanli family maintained its power and independent rule until the early 19th century through naval privateers and pirates under its control who were used to collect tribute and ransom from merchant vessels seized in the Mediterranean Sea.

“The Shores of Tripoli”. The Qaramanli naval forces of Tripoli formed one component of a regional grouping commonly referred to as “the Barbary pirates,” which played a pivotal role in shaping the foreign and military policies of the young United States. Beginning in the late 1780s, a series of confrontations between U.S. merchant ships and naval raiding parties from Triopli and other neighboring city-states as Algiers and Tunis led to the destruction of U.S. maritime cargo and the seizure of U.S. hostages. Subsequent negotiations between the United States and the governments of the Barbary states concluded with the signing of some of the first bilateral treaties in the U.S. history, including U.S. agreements to pay tribute to Tripoli in exchange for the safe passage of U.S. vessels off what is now the Libyan coast.

Disputes over the terms of this bilateral agreement and continuing attacks on U.S. merchant ships impressed upon the U.S. government the need for a naval protection force to safeguard U.S. commercial activity in the Mediterranean. This need eventually was satisfied by the creation of the United States Navy by Congress in April 1798.

An attack on the U.S. consulate in Tripoli in 1801 and further attacks on U.S. ships sparked open hostilities between the newly commissioned light naval forces of the United States and the privateers of Tripoli. Frequent naval engagements from 1801 to 1805 were often won by U.S. forces, but one skirmish in 1804 ended with the grounding of the U.S.S. Philadelphia and the capture of her crew. The conflict culminated in the overland seizure of the eastern Libyan city of Darnah by U.S. Marines and a team of recruited indigenous forces in 1805 – the basis for the reference to “the shores of Triopli” in the Marine Corps hymn. The fall of Darnah compelled the Qaramanli leadership in Tripoli to relent to demands to ransom the U.S. prisoners and sign a “treaty of peace and friendship.” Efforts to repatriate the remains of U.S. personnel killed in these early 19th century military engagements with Tripoli are ongoing. 114. - 114. See Veterans of Foreign Wars Magazine, “Return Oldest U.S. MIAs,” Volume 94, Issue 1, September 1, 2006; and the Somers Point Historical Society, information available at [http://www.richardsomers.org].

17) Conference Report on the National Defense Authorization Act. Section 598. Evaluation of Issues Affecting Disposition of remains of American Sailors Killed in the Explosion of the Ketch USS INTREPID in Tripoli Harbor on September 4, 1804.

(a) Evaluation required – Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this act, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Navy shall conduct an evaluation of the following issues with respect to the disposition of the remains of American sailors killed in the explosion of the Ketch USS INTREPID in Tripoli Harbor on September 4, 1804:

i. The feasibility of recovery of remains based on historical information, factual consideration, costs, and precedential effect.

ii. The ability to make identifications of the remains within a two-year period based on conditions and facts that would have to exist for positive scientific identification of the remains.

iii. The diplomatic and inter-governmental issues that would have to be addressed in order to provide for exhuming and removing the remains consistent with the sovereignty of the Libyan Government.

(b) Participation and consultation. – The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Navy shall conduct the evaluation as required by subsection (a) with participation of the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting command and in consultation with the Secretary of State.

(c) Submission of Recommendation. Upon completion of the evaluation as required by subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State Shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives their recommendation regarding the proposal to exhume, identify, and relocate the remains of the American sailors referred to in such subsection and the reasons supporting their recommendation.

Panetta Statement regarding Tripoli Cemetery

2011-12-18T12:44:00.000-08:00

Statement by Secretary Panetta Following Visit to Tripoli Cemetery
http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4947

I was deeply honored during my visit to Libya to have the opportunity to pay my respects to the heroes from the United States’ first overseas war whose remains are interred in Tripoli’s Protestant cemetery.

These brave sailors from the Intrepid, who died in the service of their country, have our nation’s enduring respect and gratitude. Having sailed into harm’s way to secure our nation’s interests, they volunteered for a dangerous mission and paid the ultimate price. Their courage, and that of their fellow sailors and Marines, have forever emblazoned the shores of Tripoli in our nation’s conscience.

It is a sign of the great friendship between the American and Libyan people that, in spite of the differences that have marked our governments’ relations over the years, the Libyan people have maintained this cemetery with the respect and honor that it deserves, designating it a protected historic property.

Even in the most difficult of times, the Department of Archeology and Antiquities worked hard to protect and preserve this special site, spending significant resources to restore the cemetery to its original state and taking painstaking measures to protect the remains of our fallen sailors. The United States looks forward to working with Dr. Salah Agap and his team to ensure that this very special place remains an honored and protected landmark for both of our nations.
The Libyan people’s outstanding work on the cemetery’s restoration is a symbol of the values we share, including an appreciation of the need to honor those who have sacrificed their lives in the pursuit of a cause greater than ourselves.

I cannot visit a place such as this without also reflecting on the thousands of Libyan people who gave their lives for freedom. They sacrificed so that Libya and her people could have a new era of hope and opportunity, and because of their sacrifices the torch of freedom burns brightly here in Libya

Panetta Leaves Challenge Coin at Graves

2011-12-18T00:03:00.000-08:00

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta leaves a Challenge Coin at the graves of Intrepid sailors in Tripoli.

For video see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQUeFaWuzmA

Challenge Coins:

A challenge coin is a small coin or medallion (usually military), bearing an organization’s insignia or emblem and carried by the organization’s members. They are given to prove membership when challenged and to enhance morale. In addition, they are also collected by service members.[1]

Like many aspects of military tradition, the origins of the challenge coin are a matter of much debate with little supporting evidence. While many organizations and services claim to have been the originators of the challenge coin, the most commonly held view is that the tradition began in the Army Air Corps (a precursor of the current United States Air Force).

Air warfare was a new phenomenon during World War I. When the Army created flying squadrons they were manned with volunteer pilots from every walk of civilian life. While some of the early pilots came from working class or rural backgrounds, many were wealthy college students who withdrew from classes in the middle of the year, drawn by the adventure and romance of the new form of warfare.

As the legend goes, one such student, a wealthy lieutenant, ordered small, solid-bronze medallions (or coins) struck, which he then presented to the other pilots in his squadron as mementos of their service together. The coin was gold-plated, bore the squadron’s insignia, and was quite valuable. One of the pilots in the squadron, who had never owned anything like the coin, placed it in a leather pouch he wore around his neck for safekeeping. A short while later, this pilot’s aircraft was heavily damaged by ground fire (other sources claim it was an aerial dogfight), forcing him to land behind enemy lines, resulting in his capture by the Germans. The Germans confiscated the personal belongings from his pockets, but they didn’t catch the leather pouch around his neck. On his way to a permanent prisoner of war facility, he was held overnight in a small German-held French village near the front. During the night, the town was bombarded by the British, creating enough confusion to allow the pilot to escape.

The pilot avoided German patrols by donning civilian attire, but all of his identification had been confiscated so he had no way to prove his identity. With great difficulty, he crept across no-man’s land and made contact with a French patrol. Unfortunately for him, the French had been on the lookout for German saboteurs dressed as civilians. The French mistook the American pilot for a German saboteur and immediately prepared to execute him.

Desperate to prove his allegiance and without any identification, the pilot pulled out the coin from his leather pouch and showed it to his French captors. One of the Frenchmen recognized the unit insignia on the coin and delayed the execution long enough to confirm the pilot's identity.
Once the pilot safely returned to his squadron, it became a tradition for all members to carry their coin at all times. To ensure compliance, the pilots would challenge each other to produce the coin. If the challenged couldn’t produce the coin, he was required to buy a drink of choice for the challenger; if the challenged could produce the coin, the challenger would purchase the drink.

Another aspect of the tradition dates back to when US military personnel were assigned to occupy post-World War II Germany. With the exchange rate, the West German one Pfennig coin was worth only a fraction of a U.S. cent, and they were thus generally considered not having enough value to be worth keeping - unless one was completely broke. At any place where servicemen would gather for a beer, if a soldier called out "Pfennig Check" everyone had to empty their pockets to show if they were saving any Pfennigs. If a soldier could produce a Pfennig, it meant that he was nearly broke. Likewise, if a soldier could not produce a Pfennig (meaning he had enough money to not bother saving them), he had to buy the next round.

Another part of the coin tradition dates back to the Vietnam war:
The tradition of the coin giving dates back to Vietnam actually when soldiers would tote along a piece of "lucky" ordnance that had helped them or narrowly missed them. At first it was small arms ammunition, but this practice grew to much bigger and more dangerous ordnance as time wound on. It became then actually a dangerous practice because of the size and power of the ordnance being carried, so commanders banned it, and instead gave away metal coins emblazoned with the unit crest or something similar. The main purpose of the ordnance had been when going into a bar, you had to have your lucky piece or you had to buy drinks for all who did have it. The coins worked far better in this regard as they were smaller and not as lethal! So, if you go to a military bar, whip out a challenge coin and slam it down on the bar, those who lack one buy drinks! Obviously you have to be careful about this tradition... However, Commanders and units give out coins for this and as mementos for services rendered or special occasions.

There is another story about an American soldier scheduled to rendezvous with Philippine guerrillas during WWII. As the story goes, he carried a Philippine solid silver coin that was stamped on one side with the unit insignia. The coin was used to verify, to the guerrillas, that the soldier was their valid contact for the mission against the Japanese.

The challenge coin tradition has spread to other military units, in all branches of service, and even to non-military organizations. Today, challenge coins are given to members upon joining an organization, as an award to improve morale, and sold to commemorate special occasions or as fundraisers. In the Air Force, military training instructors award an Airman's coin to new enlisted personnel upon completion of their United States Air Force Basic Military Training and to new officers upon completion of their Air Force Officer Training School.

In 2008, Leatherneck Magazine gave a 90th anniversary Leatherneck challenge coin to a select few readers who sent in letters to their Sound Off section which the editors particularly liked.

Challenge coins and U.S. Presidents
President Bill Clinton displayed several racks of challenge coins, which had been given to him by U.S. servicemembers, on the credenza behind his Oval Office desk. These coins are currently on display at the Clinton Library. The challenge coins appear in the background of his official portrait, now hanging in the White House.

President George W. Bush received a challenge coin from a Marine combat patrol unit during his short but unexpected visit to Al-Asad Airbase in Anbar province, Iraq, September 3, 2007.
President Barack Obama placed challenge coins on the memorials of the soldiers slain in the Fort Hood shooting.

Challenging

The tradition of a challenge is the most common way to ensure that members are carrying their unit's coin. The rules of a challenge are not always formalized for a unit, and may vary between organizations. The challenge only applies to those members that have been given a coin formally by their unit. This may lead to some controversy when challenges are initiated between members of different organizations and is not recommended. The tradition of the coin challenge is meant to be a source of morale in a unit, and forcing the challenge can cause a reverse effect.

The challenge, which can be made at any time, begins with the challenger drawing his/her coin, and slapping or placing the coin on the table or bar. In noisy environments, continuously rapping the challenge coin on a surface may initiate the challenge. (Accidentally dropping a challenge coin is considered to be a deliberate challenge to all present.) Everyone being challenged must immediately produce the coin for their organization and anyone failing to do so must buy a round of drinks for the challenger and everyone else who has their challenge coin. However, should everyone challenged be able to produce their coin, the challenger must buy a round of drinks for the group.

While most holders of challenge coins usually carry them in their pockets or in some other readily accessible place on their persons, most versions of the rules permit a challenged person "a step and a reach" (particularly useful if one is challenged in the shower, a tradition in the Navy).
Variants of the rules include the following. If someone is able to steal a challenge coin, everyone in the group must buy a drink for that person. During a challenge, everyone in the group must buy a drink for the holder of the highest-ranking coin. Some units provide strict time limits to respond to a challenge.

One feature of challenge coins is it takes a conscious effort to carry one at all times. Traditionally, rules of a challenge include a prohibition against defacing the coin, especially if it makes it easier to carry at all times. If the challenge coin is attached to a belt buckle or key ring, or has had a hole drilled in it to attach to a lanyard, it no longer qualifies as a challenge coin.[9][10][not in citation given] A generally safe place to carry a coin is in a pouch worn around the neck (like the pilot in the legend). Carrying a challenge coin in the wallet is problematic because the distinctive circular bulge can be mistaken for a condom, or can identify the individual as a military member—a serious security consideration in many places. Some unit rules specifically prohibit carrying a challenge coin in a wallet.[10][not in citation given]
While coins range dramatically in diameter and thickness, a Pocket Coin normally measures 38mm x 2.5mm thick, while a Presentation Coin or Medallion is traditionally 45mm x 3mm. They come in all shapes, from square, oval, multisided to one which replicates a "dog tag".

There are many finishes available – from a simple pewter to 24K gold. While there are only a few base metals, the patina (finish) can range from gold, silver, nickel, brass, copper. bronze plus the antiqued variations. Soft or hard enamel or a printed inset with an epoxy coating may add color (the epoxies are often more resilient and scratch resistant than the metal surfaces).

Challenge coins are moderately inexpensive to design and produce. There are two basic processes by which to manufacture: zinc-alloy castings or die struck bronze.

Zinc alloy castings offer the advantage of low cost. The quality is relatively good, but if carried as a pocket coin, the patina (finish) tends to wear off exposing the base metal. While a die struck bronze or brass coin is more expensive, the result renders a far superior product (numismatic quality)

As of 2010, coins manufactured in Asia typically cost between US$4.50 to US$12.00 per coin depending on production process and complexity of design, laser engraving, enamels, voids, etc. The dies must be sculpted by an artist and can range in cost from US$500 to US$900 depending on complexity. The cost of domestic manufacture can be two to three times this amount.

In order to be competitive, most North American companies offering challenge coins rely on having the product manufactured 'off-shore'. Many challenge coins are fabricated in South Korea, as the connection to the US military bases there is strong, and costs are cheaper than US made coins.

There are two main types of challenge coins being manufactured by various companies today. The first, called hard enamel, is a process adopted from ancient Chinese lapel pins and uses hard baked enamels to give each coin a smooth finish. The more common process is known as soft enamel and leaves each coin with a textured surface, whereby the raised metal areas formed by stamping the design into metal are raised above the enamel color fills. The primary difference between the two finishes is determined by a polishing process that smooths out the raised metal areas to a point where they are even with the color fills. Hard enamel coins are polished to a smooth finish - soft enamel coins are left unfinished.[11] You can view a large collection of different types of challenge coins by clicking the following www.mychallengecoins.net

Besides using coins for challenging, they are also used as rewards or awards for outstanding service or performance of duty. As such they are used as a tool to build morale. In the context as they are used by the modern U.S. military, the tradition probably began among special forces units during the Vietnam War. The tradition spread through the Airborne community, and by the early 1980s also into the 75th Ranger Regiment. As officers were reassigned as their careers progressed, they carried with them the tradition of awarding a unit coin for acts that were worthy of recognition, but yet lacked enough merit to submit the soldiers act for an official medal. Challenge coins were not very common until the First Persian Gulf War of 1990–1991, and have steadily grown in popularity since.

One widely known challenge coin in the United States Air Force was the "Bull Dog" challenge coin. that was exclusive to B-52 enlisted tail gunners. Since the B-52 gunner position was phased out in 1991, this famous challenge coin has become more rare.

This coin was presented to gunners upon graduation from their Air Force technical training and their entry into the "Gunners Association". In the earlier days of bombers, a bean or a nugget was used. The coin represents the attributes of strength and courage as reflected in the Bulldog, the gunner's official mascot. The coin was also given to certain "honorary gunners", usually commanders and leaders who portrayed the spirit of the bulldog.

Some collectors buy them for their numismatic value. Coins given as awards for accomplishments are normally given to the recipient during a handshake, passing from the right hand of the giver to the right hand of the awardee. It is also normal for the giver to offer a brief explanation of the reason for awarding the coin.

"Perhaps the largest collection of Army Engineer related coins exists in a large cabinet in the Army Engineer Association's (AEA) Engineer Regimental Store, located in the Engineer Museum at the home of the Engineer Regiment. These coins were donated by store customers who have passed through the store since it opened in the late 1980s."

Secretary of Defense visits Tripoli Graves

2011-12-17T13:21:00.000-08:00

TRIPOLI, LIBYA - DECEMBER 17: U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta (2R) leaves his challenge coin on a grave stone during the wreath laying ceremony with U.S. Ambassador to Libya Gene Crets (C) and Gen. Carter Ham (2L), Commander U.S. Africa Command, at the grave site of 13 U.S. Navy sailors at the Protestant Cemetery on December 17, 2011 in Tripoli, Libya. Panetta visited the grave site of the sailors who were killed on the USS Intrepid in 1804. Panetta is the first U.S. Defense Secretary to visit Libya. (Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais-Pool/Getty Images)

Interesting how a small band of concerned citizens, screaming loud
enough, can alter the travel schedule of the US Secretary of Defense.

PANETTA BECOMES FIRST DEFENSE CHIEF TO VISIT LIBYA
By Lolita Baldor
Associate Press

TRIPOLI, Libya — U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in
Tripoli Saturday, taking advantage of the ouster of Moammar Gadhafi in
an eight-month civil war to become the first Pentagon chief to set
foot on Libyan soil.

Panetta also made an emotional visit to what historians believe is the
gravesite of 13 U.S. sailors killed in 1804. Those deaths were caused
by the explosion of the U.S.S Intrepid, which was destroyed while
slipping into the Tripoli harbor to attack pirate ships that had
captured an American frigate.

Panetta walked into the small walled cemetery with more than two dozen
gravestones, and over a corner where five large but simple white
gravestones mark the graves of the American sailors. The stones read
"Here lies an American sailor who gave his life in the explosion of
the United States Ship Intrepid in Tripoli Harbour, Sept. 4, 1804."

Panetta placed a wreath at the site, and then observed a moment of
silence. He also left behind a memento of his visit on top of one of
the stones, a Secretary of Defense souvenir coin.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20111217/ML.US.Libya/

TRIPOLI, Libya — Pentagon chief Leon Panetta made history Saturday as the first American defense secretary to set foot on Libyan soil and said he hoped the post-Moammar Gadhafi government could assemble the country's militias into "one Libya."

Panetta has indicated that the U.S. will give the Libyans some time to gain control of the militias that overthrew Gadhafi during an eight-month civil war before determining how to help the fledgling government.

At a news conference in the capital with Prime Minister Abd al-Raheem al-Keeb, Panetta said that he was confident that the new Libyan government is reaching out to all groups and would bring them together as part of "one Libya."

Panetta, who was joined by Gen. Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Africa Command, said the United States would provide whatever assistance the Libyans needed.

The prime minister told reporters that he was optimistic that the new government in Tripoli could deal the militias.

Panetta's route into the city took him past lush orange groves, carcasses of bombed buildings and the charred and graffiti-covered compound once occupied by Gadhafi.

Flying from rooftops were the green, black and red flags, adorned with a star and a crescent, belonging to the new government. Amid the Arabic graffiti splashed across the walls of the compound was a short comment in English: "Thanx US/UK."

Panetta also made an emotional visit to what historians believe is the gravesite of 13 U.S. sailors killed in 1804. Those deaths were caused by the explosion of the U.S.S, Intrepid, which was destroyed while slipping into the Tripoli harbor to attack pirate ships that had captured an American frigate.

Panetta walked into the small walled cemetery with more than two dozen gravestones and made his way to a corner where five large but simple white gravestones mark the graves of the American sailors. The stones read, "Here lies an American sailor who gave his life in the explosion of the United States Ship Intrepid in Tripoli Harbour, Sept. 4, 1804."

Panetta placed a wreath at the site and then observed a moment of silence. He also left behind a memento of his visit on top of one of the stones, a U.S. secretary of defense souvenir coin.

While eager to encourage a new democracy that emerged from Libya's Arab Spring revolution, the U.S. is wary of appearing as trying to exert too much influence after an eight-month civil war.
At the same time, however, leaders in the U.S. and elsewhere worry about how well the newly formed National Transitional Council can resolve clashes between militia groups in the North African nation.

Ahead of Panetta's visit, the Obama administration announced it had lifted penalties that were imposed on Libya in February to choke off Gadhafi's financial resources while his government was using violence to suppress peaceful protests.

The U.S. at the time blocked some $37 billion in Libyan assets, and a White House statement said Friday's action "unfreezes all government and central bank funds within U.S. jurisdiction, with limited exceptions."

Recovery of the assets "will allow the Libyan government to access most of its worldwide holdings and will help the new government oversee the country's transition and reconstruction in a responsible manner," the White House said.

But the continuing violence in Libya, including recent skirmishes between revolutionary fighters and national army troops near Tripoli's airport, reflects the difficulties that Libya's leaders face as they try to forge an army, integrating some of the militias and disarming the rest.

Officials acknowledge that process could take months, and that they can't force the militias to go along.

By traveling to Libya, Panetta was highlighting the different approaches that the U.S. and other countries are taking with respect to rebellions in the region against tyrannical leaders.

The U.S. and NATO provided months of military power and assistance to the Libyan rebels, but officials have made it clear they do not intend to do the same in Syria despite the furor over President Bashar Assad's crackdown on pro-reform demonstrators.

Panetta, who met with Turkish officials Friday, said they did not discuss any specific steps to increase pressure on Assad to step down.

But they talked about the need to work together with other nations to "get Assad to do the right thing."

At some point, he said, he believes that the type of uprisings that happened in Libya and elsewhere across the Middle East will take place in Syria.

Panetta Arrives for Historic Visit to Tripoli
By Donna Miles

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=66519
American Forces Press Service

TRIPOLI, Libya, Dec. 17, 2011 – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta arrived here today to congratulate the Libyan people for their accomplishments and determine what help the United States can offer to help them succeed as they move forward.

Panetta became the first U.S. defense secretary to visit Libya, arriving just two months after the Libyans overthrew Moammar Gadhafi’s repressive regime that had gripped the country since 1969.

He is scheduled to meet with Libyan Prime Minister Abd al-Raheem Al-Keeb and Defense Minister Usama Al-Jwayli. Army Gen. Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Africa Command, is slated to accompany him.

“I hope to pay tribute to [the Libyans] and to offer them whatever support we can to assist them in ensuring that they can put the institutions of democracy in place [and] give the Libyan people the opportunity to vote for a representative government,” the secretary told reporters traveling with him before arriving here.

Panetta said during a media roundtable yesterday in Ankara, Turkey, that the Libyans will need time to assess exactly what their needs are and what steps they need to take moving forward.

“The last thing you want to do is try to impose something on a country that has just gone through what the Libyans have gone through,” he said. “They have earned the right to try to determine their future. They have earned the right to try to work their way through the issues they are going to have to confront.”

But in doing so, Panetta said the United States, along with NATO and the international community, all want to provide Libya what it needs to succeed. “And we will do whatever we can to encourage them to move in the right direction,” he said.

The hope, the secretary said, is to enable the Libyans to establish a democracy that will be “another symbol and indication that the Middle East should be headed in for the future.”

In many ways, Libya represents “the ultimate of what the ‘Arab spring’ should be about,” Panetta said. “The Libyan people were able to bring down Gadhafi, … with support of the NATO mission,” he said. “It represents a situation where that country is handed back to the Libyan people.”

Panetta called the developments in Libya an indication of changes taking place throughout the region.

“This is a turning point that we have all been a part of,” he said. “Most importantly, a lot of this is due … to the sacrifice and commitments of our troops and the great work that they have done over these last few years.”

Panetta is expected to extend U.S. hopes of resetting what previously had been a turbulent relationship with Gadhafi’s military, and to offer U.S. security assistance down the road in an effort to develop a new defense and security relationship with Libya, a senior defense official traveling with him said.

The leaders are likely to discuss ways they can cooperate on issues of mutual concern such as weapons proliferation, the security of not-yet-destroyed chemical weapons stocks and regional terrorism, the official said. The discussions also are expected to include Libya’s efforts to reconcile disparate militias that were able to cooperate to topple Gadhafi, but have not yet coalesced into a united military force.

“We stand ready as this new interim government is still in stages of getting itself organized to respond to their requests for assistance and consolidating the different militias into a unified military force,” he said.

The Defense Department has a small number of people attached to the U.S. Embassy in Libya who are assisting in explosive ordnance disposal, providing advice on security chemical weapons stocks and helping establish embassy security, the official said.

The secretary also will lay a wreath at the graves of U.S. sailors lost aboard the USS Intrepid Sept. 4, 1804.

Their mission was to use the explosives-laden Intrepid as a floating bomb to destroy pirate ships moored in Tripoli harbor during the First Barbary War. The vessel is believed to have been intercepted as it entered the harbor, with the violent explosion that ensued killing Navy Lt. Richard Somers, its commander, and his dozen officers and sailors.

Their remains were transferred to the current graveyard in 1949. (sic 1930)

The 2012 Defense Authorization Act, as passed by the House in December, includes a provision that requires the Defense Department to begin the process of identifying and returning Somers and his sailors to the United States.

Specifically, the bill instructs the secretaries of defense and the Navy to report back to Congress on the feasibility of recovering and positively identifying the missing commandos.

Leon Panetta, defense secretary, offers support to new Libya in historic visit
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/leon-panetta-visits-libya-offers-aid/2011/12/17/gIQAHoR0zO_story.html

By Craig Whitlock, Published: December 17

TRIPOLI, Libya — Nine months after American and NATO air power was deployed to rescue a faltering rebellion against Moammar Gaddafi, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta made a historic visit here Saturday to offer symbolic support for Libya’s post-revolutionary government as it tries to stabilize the North African country.

Panetta, who took office in July as the civil war was raging, is the first Pentagon chief to visit Libya after decades of hostile relations between Washington and Gaddafi. His trip was the latest effort by the Obama administration to encourage Libya’s fledgling government to move quickly to transition to democracy even as the United States seeks to avoid the appearance of interfering in the country’s volatile internal affairs.

“Libya is now in the hands of the Libyan people,” Panetta said at a news conference at the Libyan Defense Ministry. “This will be a long and difficult transition, but I have every confidence that you will succeed in realizing the dream of a government of, by and for all people and achieve a more secure and prosperous future.”

Panetta’s message to Libyan leaders echoed comments he had made two days before in Baghdad, where he led a ceremony to markthe end of the war in Iraq. Although their circumstances differ, both countries are struggling to adopt democratic practices after the U.S. military ousted, or helped oust, a long-serving autocrat.

Panetta met with Libya’s new prime minister, Abdurrahim el-Keib, as well as its defense minister, Osama al-Jwayli. He was accompanied by Army Gen. Carter Ham, the chief of the U.S. military’s Africa Commandand a leading player in NATO’s Libya campaign. The defense secretary said Washington was “prepared to provide whatever assistance that Libya believes it needs” but added that he did not discuss specific aid proposals with Libyan leaders. “They have to determine what their needs are,” he said.

Panetta also laid a wreath at a small cemetery in Tripoli that for two centuries has been the resting place for five American sailors. The sailors were part of a 13-member crew who died during a mission by the USS Intrepid against a Barbary pirate fleet in Tripoli’s harbor in 1804.

Some of the sailors’ descendants have sought for years to have their remains returned to the United States. The Navy favors leaving the cemetery undisturbed, calling it the “final resting place” of the sailors. Congress, however, passed a measure last week calling on the Defense Department to study the possibility of bringing the sailors’ remains home.

Panetta did not comment publicly during his visit to the cemetery, which sits on a bluff overlooking Tripoli’s harbor. In a statement issued afterward, he praised the Libyan government’s efforts to preserve the grave sites. The cemetery had been in a dilapidated condition for many years until a restoration project was completed in January, when Gaddafi was still in power.

Panetta made his brief stopover in Libya despite continuing unrest, including outbreaks of gunfire at the Tripoli airport earlier in the week. Rival militias that had banded together to oust Gaddafi are vying for control and influence in the new government.

Keib said he reassured Panetta that the government was doing its best to unify the militias under a single banner. “We know how serious this issue is,” he said. “We know it’s not just a matter of saying, ‘Okay, put down your arms and go back to work.’ ”

Panetta is the second member of Obama’s Cabinet to visit Libya in two months, following an appearance in Tripoli by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Oct. 19, two days before Gaddafi was killed by rebel forces.

Although U.S. and NATO bombing helped drive Gaddafi from power, the Obama administration avoided deploying U.S. ground forces to Libya. Only a handful of U.S. military personnel are in the country, assigned to security duties at the U.S. Embassy.

One priority for Libya’s new leaders has been to gain access to billions of dollars in assets that Gaddafi had stored in overseas accounts. On Friday, the White House announced that it has lifted remaining sanctions against Gaddafi’s government and that it will unfreeze an estimated $37 billion in Libyan government assets under U.S. jurisdiction.

INTREPID FAMILIES THANKFUL FOR PENTAGON CHIEF'S CEMETERY VISIT
But has the whitewash of the first USS Intrepid begun?

The following statement may be attributed to Michael Caputo, spokesman for the Intrepid families:

"The families of the crew of the first USS Intrepid are deeply moved by the 'emotional visit' of Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to the squalid graves of their forebears. They have worked for more than two centuries to bring their boys home and his visit proves to us that our efforts are finally on the minds of the highest-ranking leaders of our nation. We are all very thankful.

We respect the need for hyperbolic oratory when our nation is building a new diplomatic relationship. However, it is important to correct Secretary Panetta's remarks today: the graves of the Intrepid crew were never properly cared for - by Americans or Libyans - and the cemetery was only recently renovated, some of it in preparation for his visit. Our sources in Tripoli tell us Americans were feverishly working inside the locked cemetery sprucing up the place before he arrived. Reporters who requested access before the cleanup were denied.

The Pentagon and the State Department might be able to shore up the collapsed walls of the cemetery, fix grave markers shattered for centuries, and even build new bridges between our nations, but they can never whitewash history. After being dragged through the streets of Tripoli, fed to wild dogs and then dumped in mass graves, the sons of the Intrepid families were never properly honored for their sacrifice. They are not today.

The Department of Defense has long ignored the facts surrounding the disposition of the crew of the first Intrepid. In fact, the Pentagon's own news service got it wrong again today: our heroes remains were not "transferred to the current graveyard in 1949." The cemetery was built up around the existing graves of the Intrepid officers in 1830; the enlisted men were recovered from a mass grave by an Italian road crew and transferred to the grounds in the 1930s. The Pentagon does not have their facts straight and they haven't for two hundred years.

The Intrepid families have never stopped begging for the return of their sons and our contemporary efforts resulted in a Congressional directive wrapped into the National Defense Authorization Act requiring the Pentagon to present its first factual report on repatriation in 270 days. We hope the families' deep research and abiding concerns will be included in this report. We fear the Secretary's remarks today and the continued errors in DoD reporting do not indicate they will end 207 years of blocking repatriation.

We hope Secretary Panetta's visit to the graves left neglected for centuries moves him to join our effort to repatriate our nation's first Navy heroes, honored as they deserve. In many ways, it is now left up to him and boils down to a simple question: will he honor the historical wishes of the Intrepid families to bring them home where they belong?"

INFO: www.IntrepidProject.org
VIDEO: http://bit.ly/vhtBI6
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 17, 2011
CONTACT: MICHAEL CAPUTO
716-867-5554

2012 Defense Act Includes Tripoli Provision

2011-12-15T12:38:00.000-08:00

INTREPIDPROJECT.ORG
For Immediate Release
December 14, 2011

Congress Orders Navy to Take Steps to Bring Navy Commandos Home from Libya after 207 Years

Congressmen LoBiondo, Rogers Secure Provision to Begin Process of Returning Richard Somers, 12 Other U.S. Navy Commandos Home

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House has passed the “National Defense Authorization Act of 2012” (NDAA), which includes a provision strenuously pushed for by U.S. Congressmen Frank LoBiondo (NJ-02) and Mike Rogers (MI-08) that requires the Department of Defense (DoD) to begin the process of identifying and returning Commander Richard Somers and his fellow twelve (12) Navy commandos buried in mass graves in Libya to the United States. Killed in Tripoli, Libya in 1804, Commander Somers is the namesake of Somers Point, New Jersey.

“After years and years of unexplained delays and blatant stonewalling, the U.S. Navy will now have to begin the process of bringing one of our nation’s greatest heroes home to Somers Point,” praised LoBiondo, a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

“The historic life of U.S. Commander Richard Somers has positively affected and inspired not only residents of Somers Point and South Jersey, but individuals across the country. The definition of an American hero is Richard Somers and his fellow sailors, who bravely fought and died for their country. I’m pleased that Congress agrees they should be returned home to be buried with dignity by their families and communities with the gratitude of a grateful nation.”

In September of 1804, the thirteen American sailors were killed in the explosion of the USS Intrepid in Tripoli Harbor. The Navy’s first commandos – precursors to today’s Navy Seals – were on a mission to destroy Tripoli’s naval fleet during the First Barbary War. When their bodies washed ashore on the beach in Tripoli, they were fed to a pack of dogs as American prisoners of war looked on and then dumped into two mass graves.

LoBiondo has long sought to bring Commander Somers home to Somers Point, inquiring over the years with the State Department and DoD on available avenues to retrieve the body from Tripoli. Rogers joined LoBiondo’s effort after visiting the grave sites in 2004 and joined on legislation that was approved by the full House in May.

This spring LoBiondo spoke on the House floor about the need to bring Commander Somers home. His speech is available on his YouTube page: www.youtube.com/user/USRepFrankLoBiondo.

LoBiondo was a member of the House-Senate Conference which negotiated and agreed to the final legislation.

Specifically, the NDAA instructs the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Defense Department to report back to Congress, in no more than 270 days, about the feasibility of recovering the missing commandos. That determination must be based on costs of the operation, facts surrounding the incident, precedent for retrieval and historical information. DoD must also determine their ability to positively identify Commander Somers and his fellow patriots within two (2) years. Additionally, diplomatic issues needing to be addressed between the United States and Libya prior to exhuming the bodies must be included in the report.

“I strongly believe that the United States has an obligation to leave no member of the Armed Services behind, especially after sacrificing so much for their country,” said Rogers, a former officer in the U.S. Army, member of the conference committee that produced the final bill and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. “Bringing the remains of those brave commandos home and giving them a proper military funeral will finally bring a sense of closure to a tragic story that has lasted far too long.”

Defense bill may get remains of namesake for Somers Point returned home from Libya

Published: Sunday, December 18, 2011

By John Barna/Gloucester County Times

WASHINGTON – The House has passed the “National Defense Authorization Act of 2012” (NDAA), which includes a provision pushed for by U.S. Congressmen Frank LoBiondo, R-Ventnor, and Mike Rogers, R-Michigan, that requires the Department of Defense to begin the process of identifying and returning Commander Richard Somers and his fellow 12 Navy commandos buried in mass graves in Libya to the United States. Killed in Tripoli, Libya in 1804, Commander Somers is the namesake of Somers Point, New Jersey.

“After years and years of unexplained delays and blatant stonewalling, the U.S. Navy will now have to begin the process of bringing one of our nation’s greatest heroes home to Somers Point,” said LoBiondo, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. “The historic life of U.S. Commander Richard Somers has positively affected and inspired not only residents of Somers Point and South Jersey, but individuals across the country. The definition of an American hero is Richard Somers and his fellow sailors, who bravely fought and died for their country. I’m pleased that Congress agrees they should be returned home to be buried with dignity by their families and communities with the gratitude of a grateful nation.”

In September of 1804, the 13 American sailors were killed in the explosion of the USS Intrepid in Tripoli Harbor. The Navy’s first commandos – precursors to today’s Navy Seals – were on a mission to destroy Tripoli’s naval fleet during the First Barbary War. When their bodies washed ashore on the beach in Tripoli, they were fed to a pack of dogs as American prisoners of war looked on and then dumped into two mass graves.

LoBiondo has long sought to bring Commander Somers home to Somers Point, inquiring over the years with the State Department and DoD on available avenues to retrieve the body from Tripoli. Rogers joined LoBiondo’s effort after visiting the grave sites in 2004 and joined on legislation that was approved by the full House in May.

Specifically, the NDAA instructs the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Defense Department to report back to Congress, in no more than 270 days, about the feasibility of recovering the missing commandos. That determination must be based on costs of the operation, facts surrounding the incident, precedent for retrieval and historical information. DoD must also determine their ability to positively identify Commander Somers and his fellow patriots within two years. Additionally, diplomatic issues needing to be addressed between the United States and Libya prior to exhuming the bodies must be included in the report.

“I strongly believe that the United States has an obligation to leave no member of the Armed Services behind, especially after sacrificing so much for their country,” said Rogers, a former officer in the U.S. Army, member of the conference committee that produced the final bill and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. “Bringing the remains of those brave commandos home and giving them a proper military funeral will finally bring a sense of closure to a tragic story that has lasted far too long.”

In addition to the USS Intrepid provisions, the NDAA includes the following provisions important to U.S. national security, military operations and service-members:
• Authorizes $554 billion for the Department of Defense, a reduction of $19 billion from the previous year’s authorization levels;
• Includes a 1.6 percent increase in military pay;
• Authorizes mental health assessments for the reserve components during unit training;
• Freezes nearly $700 million in aid to Pakistan;
• Excludes any new authorities to detain U.S. citizens and explicitly exempts U.S. citizens from provisions related to military custody of terrorists;
• Requires the President to sanction entities, including state central banks, engaging in financial transactions with the Central Bank of Iran; and,
• Creates an independent panel to assess the location and number of U.S. forces overseas required in order to meet the National Military Strategy of 2010 and make recommendations of future U.S. presence overseas.

Additionally, the legislation elevates the Chief of the National Guard Bureau to be a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff while creating a Vice Chief of Staff position in the leadership structure of the Bureau. This places the National Guard Bureau in line with the other Services. With strategically-important National Guard units located in South Jersey, LoBiondo has long advocated for this provision and cosponsored legislation to ensure the National Guard’s interests represented at the highest level.

“In South Jersey, we are fortunate to have the brave men and women of the 177th Fighter Wing in Egg Harbor Township and the 253rd Transportation Company in Cape May Court House who has participated in recent years in combat operations overseas. As units throughout New Jersey and the nation equally serve their country alongside their counterparts in the other Services, their seat at the leadership table of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was denied. This legislation finally corrects that injustice,” concluded LoBiondo.

Finally, the legislation allows for the adoption of military working dogs by families of killed in action or seriously-wounded service-members who served as the dog’s handler overseas. After several news reports, the U.S. Congress agreed to allow adoption of these military canines by the soldiers or families of soldiers who worked day in and day out with the dog. LoBiondo strongly supported this policy change.

NY1 - Exclusive - Intrepid Project

2011-12-13T17:39:00.000-08:00

NY1 Exclusive: Intrepid Project Works To Return Deceased Sailors To U.S.
By: Josh Robin

To See Video:
http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/political_news/152481/ny1-exclusive--intrepid-project-works-to-return-deceased-sailors-to-u-s-

The bodies of five New York sailors who were killed when the first USS Intrepid sank back in 1804 may at last be returned to American soil thanks to improved relations between the United States and Libya, but tension between advocates and the Navy could bring things to a halt. NY1’s Josh Robin filed the following report.

The United States didn't send Americans to fight in Libya this time, but they did two centuries ago. Some never came home.

"I only have one hero in my family. I would like to visit his grave," says Dean Somers, a descendent of Captain Richard Somers, who led a crew of 13 men, including five sailors who enlisted in New York City.

In 1804, the Intrepid was loaded with explosives to repel Barbary pirates attacking merchant ships. It blew up, either from an enemy cannon, or an intentionally lit fuse to escape capture.

The sailors' bodies washed ashore. They were fed on by dogs. Most ended up in communal graves long left in disrepair.

"I saw the pictures of the graves and I heard the story of how they were treated, and I'm just not able to sleep at night until these men come home," says Michael Caputo of the Intrepid Project.

The cause has attracted a motley crew that includes Caputo, who ran the campaign of Carl Paladino, the failed GOP candidate for governor.

On the other side has been an unlikely opponent to the move: the Navy itself.
Officials have said they consider the dusty bluff the men's final resting spot, adding that the cemetery is being renovated.

This week, however, Congress expects to force the Navy to begin a nine-month study into the feasibility of bringing the remains home.
Some say that may not be good enough.

"We think we have a window, but we don't know what a future government will look like. We don't know what their relationship will be like with the United States. We don't know if they will be friendly," says New Jersey Representative Frank Lobiondo.
And the Somers family says their demand has always been a U.S. burial.

For years after Somers' death, his sister asked that his body be returned from Tripoli and be reinterred at the family plot in New Jersey. Her wish was unfulfilled at the time of her own death, so she asked that a marker in memory of her brother be placed next to her grave.

"I could come and be here and visit it. It's home for him," says Somers.
The others sailors may never be paired with their descendants, but under the plan, the nation could honor their service with a burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

Conference Report Orders Evaluation

2011-12-13T17:37:00.000-08:00

Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 9:50 AM

Good Morning,

I wanted to inform all of you that language on Tripoli Soldiers was included in the Conference report on the National Defense Authorization Act.

Section 598. Evaluation of Issues Affecting Disposition of remains of American Sailors Killed in the Explosion of the Ketch USS INTREPID in Tripoli Harbor on September 4, 1804.

(a) Evaluation required – Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this act, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Navy shall conduct an evaluation of the following issues with respect to the disposition of the remains of American sailors killed in the explosion of the Ketch USS INTREPID in Tripoli Harbor on September 4, 1804:

i. The feasibility of recovery of remains based on historical information, factual consideration, costs, and precedential effect.

ii. The ability to make identifications of the remains within a two-year period based on conditions and facts that would have to exist for positive scientific identification of the remains.

iii. The diplomatic and inter-governmental issues that would have to be addressed in order to provide for exhuming and removing the remains consistent with the sovereignty of the Libyan Government.

(b)Participation and consultation. – The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Navy shall conduct the evaluation as required by subsection (a) with participation of the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting command and in consultation with the Secretary of State.

(c)Submission of Recommendation. – Upon completion of the evaluation as required by subsection

(a), the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State Shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives their recommendation regarding the proposal to exhume, identify, and relocate the remains of the American sailors referred to in such subsection and the reasons supporting their recommendation.

Deja Vous - Haven't we been here before?

2011-12-10T12:25:00.000-08:00

The Walls of the Old Castle Fort & Martyrs Square, Tripoli

"

Old Protestant Cemetery - Tripoli, Libia

Sign at the gate of the Old Protestant Cemetery in Tripoli

"Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Deja Vous - Haven't we been here before? Previous Effort to Repatriate the remains of the men of the USS Intrepid from Tripoli -

Here is a 1980 New York Times article about a previous attempt thirty years ago - and how they did pretty much the same things we are doing today - and they too got nowhere. Just change the date and the names and everything else is the same. - BK

Hope Rises for Return of Bodies of Heroes of Tripoli
By Carlos Sardella
New York Times December 21 1980
http://remembertheintrepid.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html

IRVINGTON

A GROUP of New Jerseyans who have been pressuring Washington officials, even the White House, for 18 months to have the bodies of early naval heroes returned from Libya and reinterred in Arlington National Cemetery have been give new hope, according to their most active spokesman.

The bodies are those of 13 men who took part in a United States Navy suicide mission against the Barbary pirates in 1804.

An Irvington insurance agency owner who is spearheading the campaign to bring the remains back says the new hope is centered on the Administration of President Ronald Reagan.

“We certainly have not done well with President Carter or, for that matter, Governor Byrne,” the insurance man, John P. LaCroix, said, “but we have reason to believe we will get some action in 1981.”

Still awaiting action, and supported by New Jersey Representatives, Senators, state legislators and a number of veterans organizations, is a bill introduced by Harold C. Hollenbeack, Republican of East Rutherford, calling for repatriation of the bodies by the Secretary of the Navy from five graves in Tripoli.

Now awaiting action by the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Veterans Affairs, the bill has become a rallying standard for the growing number of New Jersey citizens and national veterans organization leaders. Kenneth Greenberg, a spokesman for Representative Hollenbeck, agrees that some action is probably stirring with the pending change of administrations.

He also said there was growing hope that the repatriation action might be taken without the legislation, the result of “some kind of administration order.”

Mr. Greenberg said Mr. Hollenback’s office was informed by the State Department that there was no foreign policy objection to the bill – Libya is not considered a “friendly” nation – and that the State Department was prepared to “work with the Navy to seek arrangements with the Libyan Government for repatriation.” Further, he said, some information contacts were being made with the Libyan mission in Washington.

The 13 heroes of the Barbary pirate war – there are conflicting reports whether the graves contain the bodies of five or more of the seamen – engaged in what naval historians have called a “incredible mission of heroism.”

Commanded by Capt. Richard Somers, a native of Atlantic County’s Somers Point, which was founded by his grandfather, the men formed the crew of the U.S.S. Intrepid. Laden with dynamite, the craft was intended to become a floating torch to destroy as many enemy ships as possible in the crowded Tripoli harbor. But under cannon fire on Sept. 4, 1804, the Intrepid blew up and all hands were lost.

Just a few days before that, the Intrepid, commanded by Capt. Stephen Decatur, had ventured into Tripoli harbor at night on a successful mission to burn the U.S.S. Philadelphia, a frigate that had been seized by the pirates. A mixed crew, from the U.S.S. Nautilus, the U.S.S. Constitution and the Intrepid volunteered for the ill-starred mission that followed and, as far as is known, Captain Somers ws the only member of the group from New Jersey.

Beyond patriotism, Mr. LaCroix says, it is fear that the graves are being desecrated or are, at best, uncared for.

The attempt to repatriate the bodies began in New Jersey because Patricia Dougherty, a member of the Leonia Borough Council, discovered the cemetery, all but hidden in weeds, while vacationing with a writer friend, Melba Edmunds. They found markers placed on the graves in Tripoli and commemorated by the Navy in ceremonies in 1949.

The description of the site, carried in an American Legion magazine, attracted the attention of Joseph Balsamello, commander of the Leonia American Legion Post.

With hundreds of petitions in hand, he prevailed upon Representative Hollenbeck to introduce the bill. As part of a Memorial Day observance in Leonia, the 13 naval heroes were made honorary citizens of that Bergen Country community.

The Atlantic County Historical Society, based in Somers Point, is the latest organization to join in the effort. A resolution calling upon Representative William J. Hughes, Democrat of Ocean City, has been adopted, according to Mrs. Robert J. Baldwin, president of the society, whose archives contain mementoes and books about the Somers family.

Mr. LaCroix, a Korean veteran and a member of the Navy League, believes that bringing back the bodies will help revive “a suffering Navy tradition” and fit into a resurgence of Representative Joseph G. Minish, Democrat of West Orange, has been pressing the Secretary of the Navy, W. Graham Clayton, Jr., to recommend immediate action without legislation. Senator Harrison A. Williams, Jr., Democrat of Bedminister, is urging Secretary of State Edmund S. Muskie to take action, “which is important to me, especially in view of the tense relations with Libya.”

Support of the action has been pouring in from many quarters.

Lieut. Gen. C. M. Talbott, chief of staff of the Military Order of the World War, added his endorsement. The American Legion, in its national convention in Boston last August, adopted a supportive resolution.

“We have come this far and we do not intend to let up,” Mr. LaCroix said.