sharpshooters like stephen decatur would often not take the death shot. they would shoot someone's hip or elbow. this was set up for decatur to die, and your seconds were responsible for that. that is the aftermath of this duel that is not often talked about. >> as a strategist, how did he get himself pulled into that? admiral carter: there was a part of stephen decatur -- there was no duel he didn't like. i think he liked that kind of excitement. he was involved in dozens of them, whether the shooter or the second. this was a flaw, if there was one in him, that he just could not turn down. he did not have to duel barron. admiral harvey: i think you nailed it. the first one on the ship, the last one off it. that was a pattern through his entire career. it also translated into how he did business on shore. he was never going to step away from a challenge. you read any of the biographies, you will see countless -- not just duels, but confrontations over the right thing, his honor, his judgment, and he never backed down from any one of those confrontations. i

the 240thar marks anniversary of early naval war hero stephen decatur's birth. historians discussed his early naval career including the recapture of the hms macedonian and the capture of