By . Mark Duell . Last updated at 4:07 PM on 23rd August 2011 . They’ve been buried for more than 200 years around 5,000 miles away from home - but it could finally be time for 13 U.S. sailors to come back. A veterans' group wants Congress to return the remains of the Americans buried in Libya after they died  in 1804 during the First Barbary War. The American Legion has been lobbying since the Libya uprising began six months ago for the crew, who died when their explosives ship blew up. Coming home? The crew who died in 1804 when their explosives-packed ship blew up was led by Master Commandant Richard Somers . Different location: Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia could be a more fitting final resting place than Tripoli, if the American Legion gets its way . The crew was led by Master Commandant Richard Somers and Lieutenant Henry Wadsworth, whose nephew was poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. ‘It's the best chance we've had in a long time,’ Tim Tetz, of the American Legion, told the Huffington Post. ‘We've got a change of politics in Libya. ‘We've got family members who have stood up and said: “We want to have our family members brought home.” ‘We've got the will and might of America to say: “Let's respect those who fought our wars for us, and that includes all wars”.’ The phrase 'to the shores of Tripoli' in the official U.S. Marine Corps song has its origins in the First Barbary War, which ran from 1801 to 1805. Battle: This oil panting, Decatur Boarding the Tripolitan Gunboat, by Dennis Malone Carter, shows the bombardment of Tripoli in August 1804 . Ship shape: This oil painting, the Bombardment of Tripoli by Commodore Preble's squadron, was by Michael Felice Corne and is also set in August 1804 . The American Legion secured the backing of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, reported the Huffington Post. U.S. President Thomas Jefferson ordered American Navy vessels to the Mediterranean Sea in 1801. It followed regular raids against American ships by pirates from the Barbary states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripolitania. American sailors were abducted and ransomed back before sustained action begun in 1803. A U.S. victory came in 1805 and a peace treaty was drawn up. It got an amendment to a House bill telling the Defense Secretary to ‘exhume and transfer the remains’ of some servicemen buried in Tripoli. But the Senate has not followed suit - and the group is concerned that ex-serviceman Senator John McCain could get in the way. ‘He has expressed some concern that he doesn't want to see it pass, which is disconcerting to us, and we've tried to influence him,’ Mr Tetz said. The U.S. Navy is also known to be opposed to the American Legion's desire for the bodies to be returned. Film: To The Shores Of Tripoli was a 1942 war movie which took its name from the Marines song lyric that was inspired by the First Barbary War . Uprising: Libyan rebels raced into Tripoli in a lightning advance on Sunday that met little resistance as Colonel Gaddafi's defenders melted away . However an American Legion spokesman told the Huffington Post that it is unacceptable for the sailors to be buried in a ‘hostile land’. ‘It's the best chance we've had in a . long time. We've got a change of politics in Libya' Tim Tetz, the American Legion . He said some are buried under Green Square, where Colonel Gaddafi’s government has held protest rallies. The resting place of others is a Protestant cemetery that he described as a 'shambles'. ‘So this is not the way to treat those who serve America,’ he said, adding that there is space for the bodies in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.
13 sailors died in 1804 after explosives ship blew up .
First Barbary War was started over piracy problems .
Master Commandant Richard Somers among dead crew .
Current uprising gives group chance to ask for return .
By . Mark Duell . Last updated at 4:07 PM on 23rd August 2011 . They’ve been buried for more than 200 years around 5,000 miles away from home - but it could finally be time for 13 U.S. sailors to come back. A veterans' group wants Congress to return the remains of the Americans buried in Libya after they died  in 1804 during the First Barbary War. The American Legion has been lobbying since the Libya uprising began six months ago for the crew, who died when their explosives ship blew up. Coming home? The crew who died in 1804 when their explosives-packed ship blew up was led by Master Commandant Richard Somers . Different location: Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia could be a more fitting final resting place than Tripoli, if the American Legion gets its way . The crew was led by Master Commandant Richard Somers and Lieutenant Henry Wadsworth, whose nephew was poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. ‘It's the best chance we've had in a long time,’ Tim Tetz, of the American Legion, told the Huffington Post. ‘We've got a change of politics in Libya. ‘We've got family members who have stood up and said: “We want to have our family members brought home.” ‘We've got the will and might of America to say: “Let's respect those who fought our wars for us, and that includes all wars”.’ The phrase 'to the shores of Tripoli' in the official U.S. Marine Corps song has its origins in the First Barbary War, which ran from 1801 to 1805. Battle: This oil panting, Decatur Boarding the Tripolitan Gunboat, by Dennis Malone Carter, shows the bombardment of Tripoli in August 1804 . Ship shape: This oil painting, the Bombardment of Tripoli by Commodore Preble's squadron, was by Michael Felice Corne and is also set in August 1804 . The American Legion secured the backing of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, reported the Huffington Post. U.S. President Thomas Jefferson ordered American Navy vessels to the Mediterranean Sea in 1801. It followed regular raids against American ships by pirates from the Barbary states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripolitania. American sailors were abducted and ransomed back before sustained action begun in 1803. A U.S. victory came in 1805 and a peace treaty was drawn up. It got an amendment to a House bill telling the Defense Secretary to ‘exhume and transfer the remains’ of some servicemen buried in Tripoli. But the Senate has not followed suit - and the group is concerned that ex-serviceman Senator John McCain could get in the way. ‘He has expressed some concern that he doesn't want to see it pass, which is disconcerting to us, and we've tried to influence him,’ Mr Tetz said. The U.S. Navy is also known to be opposed to the American Legion's desire for the bodies to be returned. Film: To The Shores Of Tripoli was a 1942 war movie which took its name from the Marines song lyric that was inspired by the First Barbary War . Uprising: Libyan rebels raced into Tripoli in a lightning advance on Sunday that met little resistance as Colonel Gaddafi's defenders melted away . However an American Legion spokesman told the Huffington Post that it is unacceptable for the sailors to be buried in a ‘hostile land’. ‘It's the best chance we've had in a . long time. We've got a change of politics in Libya' Tim Tetz, the American Legion . He said some are buried under Green Square, where Colonel Gaddafi’s government has held protest rallies. The resting place of others is a Protestant cemetery that he described as a 'shambles'. ‘So this is not the way to treat those who serve America,’ he said, adding that there is space for the bodies in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.
it could finally be time for 13 U.S. sailors to Libya after they died  in 1804 during the First explosives ship blew up. Coming home? The crew ship blew up was led by Master Commandant Richard Commandant Richard Somers and Lieutenant Henry origins in the First Barbary War, which ran from