Close-up and Portrait

Charles Jackson French was born on September 25, 1919 in Foreman, Arkansas. He was an orphan who learned to swim in the Red River at the age of eight. He was a United States Navy sailor and had first enlisted in the navy in 1937 and had completed his enlistment, moving to Omaha, Nebraska where he had family. With the attack on Pearl Harbor, French went to the closest recruitment office, and on December 19, 1941, re-enlisted in the United States Navy. During WWII, Petty Officer French bravely swam 6–8 hours in shark-infested waters near Guadalcanal, towing a life raft with 15 USS Gregory survivors attacked by the Japanese Navy. Adm. Halsey commended French in May 1943 for meritorious conduct, highlighting his two-hour swim to tow the raft amidst Japanese shelling, praising his adherence to naval service traditions. French was memorialized on War gum trading cards and in a comic strip and was named Hero of the Year in "The Chicago Defender". Charles French passed away on November 7, 1956 in San Diego, California at the young age of 37. He is buried at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California.