President Joe Biden signed a bill Wednesday to rename the Benson post office after an Omaha sailor who saved more than a dozen shipmates while serving in World War II.
The legislation, which designates the U.S. Postal Service facility at 6223 Maple St. the Petty Officer 1st Class Charles Jackson French Post Office, was one of two bills Biden signed Wednesday, according to the White House.
French, a Black man who enlisted in the still-segregated Navy as a mess attendant, was hailed as “the hero of the Solomon Islands“ after the sinking of his ship, the USS Gregory, on Sept. 5, 1942, near Guadalcanal. He was credited with swimming for several hours through shark-infested waters while towing a lifeboat filled with 15 wounded shipmates, all of whom were white, until they could be rescued.
French was born in Arkansas but moved to Omaha as a youth to live with an older sister after his parents died.
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He stayed in the military until the end of the war, then took a civilian job with the Navy in San Diego. He died in 1956, at age 37, of depression and alcoholism from untreated post-traumatic stress, according to family members.
Though he was recognized at the time, French’s story was largely forgotten until Bruce Wigo, a former director of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, unearthed it several years ago. It was amplified on social media in spring 2021, prompting USA Swimming to honor him during the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in Omaha last June.
Rep. Don Bacon, who introduced the bill to name the Omaha post office, said the designation would help preserve French’s legacy and give “Nebraskans and other Americans the opportunity to remember his heroic actions.”
“Despite the segregation at the time, he went above and beyond to answer the call of duty by saving his fellow sailors,” Bacon said in a statement Wednesday.
The post office designation is the latest honor posthumously awarded to French.
In May, his family was presented with the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, the service’s highest award for noncombat heroism. The award was presented during a ceremony in San Diego where a pool used for training Navy rescue swimmers was renamed in French’s honor.
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Photos: World War II hero Petty Officer 1st Class Charles Jackson French
charlesjacksonfrenchpainting (copy)
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The International Swimming Hall of Fame had this painting created of French, one of the most famous African American heroes of World War II. USA Swimming honored him at the finals of the 2021 Swim Trials in June.
Charles Jackson French and sis Viola2 at Creighton game
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Charles Jackson French with his sister, Viola, at a Creighton University football game Oct. 31, 1942, where he was honored. French towed a raft loaded with his wounded shipmates through shark-infested waters to safety near Guadalcanal.
SolomonIslandsHero -- AfroAmerican news story (copy)
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The story of Charles Jackson French's World War II valor was told and retold, especially in Black newspapers. The Arkansas native had moved to Omaha to live with his sister as a youth after his parents died, and he became one of the most famous African-African war heroes of the 1940s.
True Comics -- Charles Jackson French_Sun__Jan_10__1943_
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A 1943 "True Comics" account of the valor of Charles Jackson French after his ship was sunk at Guadalcanal.
charlesfrench and viola, 1942
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Charles Jackson French and his sister, Viola, are honored at a Creighton football game in Omaha Oct. 31, 1942.
French, Miller Bell Cartoon
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This cartoon by the African-American artist Charles Alston for the U.S. Office of War Information, celebrates the wartime valor of Charles Jackson French and two other African American sailors, Doris "Dorrie" Miller and Ervin Bell. Miller received the Navy Cross (the second highest award for combat valor) and Bell received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal (the highest award for non-combat heroism). French received no medal, only a letter of commendation.
charlesfrench in 1941 -- owh
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French finished a four-year Navy tour in November 1941, and was visiting family in Omaha when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Within days, French, 22, reenlisted. He was a mess steward, one of the few positions Black sailors were then allowed to fill in the military.
armisticeday001
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Charles Jackson French (on stage, not pictured) led a crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance at the Omaha Auditorium Nov. 11, 1942, during the city's largest Armistice Day observance since the end of World War I 24 years earlier.
Robert Adrian reviewing troops
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Ensign Robert Adrian was fresh out of the Naval Academy and a junior officer on the Navy destroyer USS Gregory when it was sunk near Guadalcanal Sept. 5, 1942. Weeks later, he told the story of a heroic mess attendant named "French" who towed a raft full of about 15 wounded sailors -- including Adrian -- all night through shark-filled waters until they were rescued. He told the story frequently to family, and tried for the rest of his life to get Charles Jackson French, the mess attendant from Omaha, the valor award he was denied during the war. He retired from the Navy in 1966 and died in 2011, without succeeding. Adrian is shown here later in his career, as a lieutenant commander.
Charles J French -- color illustration
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The story of Charles Jackson French's valor was told in newspapers, on radio dramas, in comics, on a bubble gum card and on this World War II calendar.
Draft Registration card
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Charles Jackson French's draft registration card.
French Enlistment Card 2
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Charles Jackson French was discharged from the Navy Nov. 13, 1941, but re-enlisted a month later after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
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