Irish Thought for October 26...

Irish-American Heroes

Commodore John Barry (March 25, 1745 -  September 13, 1803) was a her of the Revolutionary War.  Barry, who was born in 1745 in County Wexford, adopted Philadelphia as his home.  During the war he commanded a series of ships, including the Lexinton, which dealt the first naval defeat of the war to the British, and later, the Alliance, which fought in the final naval engagement of the war.  After the war, when the Navy was reorganized, he was appointed first on the list of captains, and his commission was signed by George Washington.  Congress passed a resolution in 2005 recognizing Barry as the first flag officer of the United States Navy; in 2011, the U.S. Naval Academy approved a memorial to Barry, as he is now considered the founder of the U.S. Navy.