Charles Jackson French

French was an orphan from Foreman, Arkansas[1] who learned to swim in the Red River at the age of eight.[2]

First enlisting in the Navy in 1937,[3] he completed his enlistment in 1941 and moved to Omaha, Nebraska where he lived with his older sister.[4] With the attack on Pearl Harbor, French went to the closest recruitment office, and on December 19, 1941, re-enlisted in the Navy.[5]

After French's ship, the High-speed transport USS Gregory (APD-3), was sunk by gunfire from Imperial Japanese Navy ships in the Solomon Islands on the morning of September 5, 1942, he swam six to eight hours in shark-infested waters near Guadalcanal while towing a life raft with fifteen survivors aboard out of the range of Japanese gunfire and possible capture, which likely would have meant execution.[6][7][3]

French was recommended for the Navy Cross, but instead received only a letter of commendation from Admiral William F. Halsey Jr. in May 1943.[6] Admiral Halsey was then commander of the Southern Pacific Fleet.[8] The commendation stated:

For meritorious conduct in action while serving on board of a destroyer transport which was badly damaged during the engagement with Japanese forces in the British Solomon Islands on September 5, 1942. After the engagement, a group of about fifteen men was adrift on a raft, which was being deliberately shelled by Japanese naval forces. French tied a line to himself and swam for more than two hours without rest, thus attempting to tow the raft. His conduct was in keeping with the highest traditions of the Naval Service.

French was memorialized on War Gum trading cards and in a comic strip. The Chicago Defender named him Hero of the Year.[9]

After the war, French married and had one daughter. Suffering from alcoholism likely caused by post-traumatic stress disorder, French died on November 11, 1956, at the age of 37, and was buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California.

In 2022, French was posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroic actions not involving direct contact with an armed enemy. The award was presented on May 21, 2022, at Naval Base San Diego, at a ceremony in which the base's rescue swimmer training pool was dedicated in French's honor.[10]

In June 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law H.R. 4168, to designate the United States Postal Service facility located at 6223 Maple Street, in Omaha, Nebraska, as the Petty Officer 1st Class Charles Jackson French Post Office.[11]