BEST OF #29 OF 492) MEET THE ROUGH RIDERS

This is the incredible two-part story of a true American hero, John Paul Jones, a man who sought nothing for himself, and all for his adopted country, for which he fought bravely throughout the American Revolution as a naval Captain, bringing honor to the fledgling American Navy. In part one we cover his boyhood, which was spent studying naval journals and languages, with hopes of becoming a sea captain, as well as his entry into manhood after he left home in Scotland at age 13 to become a seaman. When war with Great Britain broke out in 1775, Jones was assigned to command one of 5 ships that the new American navy placed into service to harass British shipping as well as their coastline, in return for the damage they were doing to our undefended coast in America. The British had 1,000 ships at their disposal- many of them well-armed warships. The US had 5. John Paul Jones was the first to raise the new Stars and Stripes above an American ships. He captured over 40 British ships in his career, and brought home (or delivered to our French allies 150,000 worth of captured supplies. He was a consummate naval strategist and contributed greatly to the early growth of our navy- later earning the title "The Father of The American Navy" for his contributions. He died in Paris, France, in 1792, was mourned by few, and nearly forgotten for over 100 years, his body, wrapped in a sheet, laying without a marker in a forgotten cemetary near Paris. When Theodore Roosevelt was appointed Assistant SECNAV in 1897 his #1 goal was to raise the power and status of our US Navy- and he began with his pledge to recover the body of the missing John Paul Jones and restore his rightful reputation to hero status. It took 6 years to locate Jone's body- but it was done- and that incredible story is told in part two. The battle between the Bonhamme Richard and the Serapis is told in detail here in part one.