The USS Constitution's "Forgotten Crews" Honored-- Part 1

From the July 1, 2012, Boston.com "USS Constitution's forgotten, brave crew honored" by Peter Schworm.

Undefeated in battle and so stalwart it earned the name "Old Ironsides," the nation's most famous warship and "an abiding symbol of national pride and naval might," the frigate USS Constitution is well-known.

Yet, in its two centuries afloat, the lives of the hundreds of ordinary sailors who served on the ship is little-known.  "As the ship's legend grew, they faded into obscurity."

Now, their stories are being told.

In the past decade, researchers at the USS Constitution Museum in Charlestown have pieced together the lives of hundreds of seamen and Marines stationed aboard.

JAMES BENNETT was a freeborn black man who plugged holes from enemy shot and was later killed at the Battle of Lake Erie.

ASA CURTIS of Scituate, a ship's gunner, was "weather-beaten and scarred from many years at sea.

"Aye, Tear Her Tattered Ensign Down."  --Brock-Perry