Don Bacon: “Today I rise to recognize Charles Jackson French, a World War II hero with ties to Omaha who made one of the most…”

“Today I rise to recognize Charles Jackson French, a World War II hero with ties to Omaha who made one of the most underappreciated sacrifices in American military history The story of Charles Jackson French is an American story: One of courage, sacrifice, and hope. Charles, a Black man, was born in a racially segregated Foreman, Arkansas, on September 15, 1919. In 1937, Charles enlisted in the United States Navy. After completing his enlistment, he moved to Omaha, Nebraska, to be with family, but after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he reenlisted. According to accounts, on September 5, 1942, Petty Officer First Class French was serving as a mess attendant in the racially segregated USS Gregory. As a Black man growing up in 1930's Arkansas, Charles lived in a time when segregation laws prohibited Black people from swimming alongside White people in public pools and beaches, yet when the USS Gregory was attacked and sunk by Japanese gunfire off the coast of Guadalcanal, it was Petty Officer French who dove into the treacherous waters of the Pacific to save his fellow sailors who had been wounded. Petty Officer French loaded 15 of his fellow sailors into a lifeboat and saved his injured comrades from drowning. However, Charles knew that they could not simply float to shores controlled by the Japanese where they would meet a fate worse than death. Prisoners were often tortured then executed.…”