Decatur High School - Decanois Yearbook (Decatur, IL)

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og lecanob 0 R VUYAGE BEGINS EPTEMBER September is the excitement of beginning a new school year. QA .Z Freshmen look to the upper classmen for guid- ance. CSome find it the hard waylj Q Student pictures are taken for the yearbook. iff. Juniors and Freshmen spend a week taking SCAT Our first assembly of the year is centered around Mr tests. Tate and our football team. 6

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Stephen Decatur was born in Maryland on January 5, 1779. His mother liked to refer to him as a child of war because he had been born while his father was fighting in a naval battle, and she had been hiding from the British. Having distinguished himself in naval warfare during the War of Independence, Etienne Decatur, Stephen's father, was an American naval officer of high rank. Because his father was gone so much of the time, Stephen was raised by his mother and grandmother. I-'rom his father, Stephen inherited good looks, a French charm, and a love for the sea, After a childhood of illness, and against his mother's wishes, Stephen foimd himself a midshipman on one of his father's ships at 19. The life of a midshipman was not an easy existence. Little better off than the crew, the midshipman acted as a human telephone to carry communiques quicklyand efficiently. The officers often baited him and teased him unmercifully. The quarters of a midshipman were cramped,uncomfortable,a.nd badlylighted.Punishmentfor misdemeanors was severe. Flogging was the most favored punishment. The midshipman's wage was S19 a month! However, life on the ship was made bearable by comradeship among the sailors and the romance and adventure of sailing to such ports as Barbados, Martinique, and Saint Christopher.Certa.inly Stephen's first voyages introduced him to the horror and glory of his future life at sea. During one of the early voyages when Decaturwas first lieutenant on the Essex, the ship became involved in naval warfare off the coast of Tripoli. Handling himself admirably during the fighting, Stephen attracted the attention of his superiors. A later engagement near Tripoli brought Stephen glory and sorrow. Decatur distinguished himself by boarding and burning the ship Philadelphia. But in the same battle, his brother was seriously wounded and later died. Because of this courageous and skillful act and previous displays of ability, Decatur was promoted to the rank of captain in 1804. As captain, Stephen was known among his men as a sailor of courage, manliness, and love of independence. His superiors regarded him as a leader - a man of boundless sway over his seamen at first sight. The men found it easy to obey and follow an officer who, denying any thought of his own importance or rank, jumped off the ship to save a mere midshipman who had fallen overboard and was drowning. The personality that was highly regarded by so many was doubtless shaped by his early voyage to Europe, his study at the University of Pennsylvania, and his early training Lmder such men as his father and John Barry, captain of the United States. Such a man as Decatur was the youngest officer C255 to first be commissioned in the US Navy. During his long naval career, Decatur fought in the War with France and the War of 1812. He commanded such ships as the President, the Constitution, the Congress, the Chesapeake, and the United States. In 1815 Decatur was ordered again to the Barbary Coast of Algiers to bring the Algerian pirates to terms. It was fitting that the man who had fought so well against these pirates at Tripoli should be the representative of the United States. When Decatur returned with a treaty favorable to the United States, the government was grateful to the boyish hero. At a celebration in his honor Decatur uttered these words in a toast that has become famous - Our country: In her affairs with foreign nations, may she always be in the right, but our country, right or wrong! Such a man of courage and honor often must defend his honor. Decatur was involved in many affairs of honor which, according to the Code, had to be settled on the dueling field. A particular quarrel with a Commodore Barron forced Commodore Decatur to the fatal duel. In 1820 Stephen Decatur was shot to death in a duel five miles from the capital of his grateful and grieving country. The great American John Quincy Adams said of Decatur: He died between nine and ten o'clock this evening. The nation has lost in him one of its heroes - one who has illustrated its history and given grace and dignity to its character in the eyes of the world. He was warmhearted, cheerful, unassuming, friendly and hospitable, beloved in social life with a soul all devoted to his country. f-J 114 XJ. J rg-kv: At I lik H N ill ,, gg . rf . I I X, jg if I :ill QR 5' lf Y fx- xfg ' f r or rift-. -. -'- 4 IA lzE 3:. 9tMf Aa?I: is rf aff? FY L. l i X' 955 1tgi '.i't3 is 'S 3. I X-

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O c to b e r is homecoming Co11egoDay, and our first? report cards. Automation reports our grades. Juniors and Seniors look over bulletins and ask questions on College Day. TIME T0 C Q.. tg 'WN'E M Z 1. 1111 Homecoming 1964 proves abig success We'll all remember the assembly parade, game and dance. Ny. ,v v , I fl' s, ' 0 is. 'id Qxgft fb A N gr .