Skip to main content
Tag

David Debias

USS Constitution. Cannons below decks.

Tale revealed of 8-year-old Black veteran of USS Constitution

By Reparations

By Brian MacQuarrie, The Boston Globe — David Debias passed explosives to the thundering guns of the USS Constitution on the night of Feb. 20, 1815. He heard US Marines shooting from the masts, watched razor-sharp splinters gash his comrades, and basked in the Constitution’s resounding victory over two British warships in its final battle, 180 miles southwest of Gibraltar. Debias was from Beacon Hill. He was 8 years old….

Read More