Heller joins bid to return ‘Tripoli sailors’

WASHINGTON -- A bill introduced in the Senate on Tuesday seeks to return the remains of 13 sailors who were killed and buried in Tripoli 207 years ago during a U.S. war against the sponsors of Mediterranean pirates.

The sailors perished the night of Sept. 3, 1804, aboard the USS Intrepid when the sailing ship, packed with explosives, was destroyed in Tripoli's harbor.

Their bodies were recovered the next day. "From the whole of them being so much disfigured it was impossible to recognize any known feature to us, or even (a revealing phrase) to distinguish an officer from a seamen," wrote a Navy captain who was allowed to bury them onshore.

Fast forward to the present day where the American Legion is seeking legislation to repatriate the remains, use modern technology to identify the sailors and rebury them near their homes or in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., sponsored the bill, with Sens. John Boozman, R-Ark. and Scott Brown, R-Mass.

"For more than 200 years, these sailors have laid to rest in a cemetery on foreign soil. It's past time that we give these men a proper military burial in the country they died defending," Heller said in a statement.

The harbor clash was among the battles of the First Barbary War, fought between the United States and Muslim states of North Africa also known as the Barbary States. The war was triggered by pirate crews capturing merchant ships and extorting ransom and tributes.

The House passed a repatriation bill in May as part of a defense authorization bill. The idea met resistance from the Navy, which considers the Tripoli burial ground to be the sailors' final resting place.

The Navy did not comment Tuesday. Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, explained the service's position in a 2008 letter to Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., confirmed by a Rogers aide.

The fall of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi presented new opportunities for the American Legion to lobby Congress on the Tripoli sailors.

The American Legion had approached Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for support on its bill, but the former naval officer demurred, citing the Navy's stance, said Craig Roberts, media relations manager for the Legion.

"It's naval tradition to leave their dead behind no matter where they are," Roberts said. "John McCain reiterated that to us a few months ago when we were trying to get him to get on board with the campaign to recover the remains. He said it went against Navy tradition."

Despite that, Roberts said he did not believe McCain would hold up the latest bill. A spokeswoman said McCain was considering the bill.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.