Our Country, Right or Wrong By Leonard F. Guttridge (294 pages) Reviewer:  Captain R. N. Adrian, USN (Ret.) Overall Rating: Three Stars: Recommended. A solid effort. The author provides a very comprehensive review of the fledgling U.S. Navy in our new republic, and the principal officers who brought it to prominence in the early 1800s. In his preface, he sets the stage for the opening chapter by pointing out that the 9/11/01 attack on our World Trade Center in New York City by Islamic Extremists, followed by the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, were not our first conflicts with hostile Muslims. There were two wars against hostile Muslims in the early 1800s, when they were not labeled as “TERRORISTS” but as Mediterranean “PIRATES”. These pirates came from the Barbary States which populated the Northern coast of Africa from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. The considered the adjacent waters were theirs by holy rights, and “infidel” non-Islamic ships and crews entering these waters were subject to their seizure and holding for ransom. During the first decade of our republic, like other nations of Europe, we endured the payment of “protection monies” to these States. However, as our nation grew and our Navy added muscle, we brought an end to this piracy as the author’s story relates. Not surprisingly, and to establish his main character as a hero, the author opens his story with the most exciting, action-packed chapter of the book. In our war with Tripoli in 1804, the twelve hundred ton frigate, the PHILADELPHIA, with its captain and entire crew, had been taken captive and held for ransom by the Barbary Pirates in the Harbor of Tripoli for more than 100 days. The ransom asked by the pirate leader, Bashaw, was reported to be one-half million dollars. A secret U.S. mission was devised to deny the Bashaw the advantage of adding this valuable vessel to his fleet, by carrying out a plan to destroy it by fire. The then 25 year old Lt. Decatur and a fellow Lt., his senior, were assigned this mission. In two stolen Barbary ketches, with each having a boarding party of six sailors and midshipmen (all garbed as Arabs), they stealthily worked their way into the heavily fortified harbor of Tripoli to board and set fire to the PHILADELPHIA. Decatur’s ketch was the first to reach their goal, and he and his crew, through his leadership and bravery, completed their arsonist mission without a loss of any of his men. (“the floating inferno illuminated the two-mile wide harbor”) Through his actions at Tripoli Harbor, Decatur positioned himself in U.S. history as a “Navy Hero” of his time and received international praise. Stephen was born on January 5, 1779, the first of three sons born to Stephen and Ann Decatur. His parents named him Stephen after his father, who was a notably successful and busy privateer during the Revolutionary War. Following the end of the war, Stephen senior moved his growing family to Philadelphia where young Stephen began his years of an excellent education, but through his combative nature, he had a number of youthful displays of recklessness. He was not known as a bully but he never retreated from a fight. In May of 1798, Decatur received his commission as a midshipman in the U.S. Navy and was assigned to the USS UNITED STATES. The author then skillfully follows Decatur’s private life and distinguished naval career until its tragic end at the young age of 41.   Our Country, Right or Wrong: The Life of Stephen Decatur, the U.S. Navy's Most Illustrious Commander By Leonard F. Guttridge (294 pages, 15 photos, 8 drawings) Reviewer:  Dr. V. H. Schumacher Overall Rating: Three stars--Recommended. A solid effort. The author has written a thoroughly researched book on the life and times of Stephen Decatur and the evolution of the U.S. Navy in the years before, during and following the Revolutionary War. Those interested in these critical formative years of our country will be surprised by the cultural and societal norms, the political machinations, not so different from the present in many ways, and the route from midshipman to captain.