The WWII Story of a Black Man Who Rescued White Sailors by Swimming 6 Hours in Shark-Infested Waters
September 20, 2024 • 17 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Bruce Wigo—the former CEO of the International Swimming Hall of Fame—is here to share a story of an unknown American WWII hero.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
To search for the Our American Stories podcast, go to
the iHeartRadio app, to Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts. From General George Washington to Audie Murphy, history's
(00:31):
greatest war heroes gave everything for their country and embodied
the meaning of bravery with their incredible acts of selflessness.
Bruce Wigo is here to tell a story of an
unknown American war hero. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
In two thousand and five, I was lucky enough to
be chosen to be the new president and executive director
of the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
And I'd always.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Been I've had a fascination with Benjamin Franklin, who himself
was a renowned swimmer during his lifetime. And one of
the first things that I did at the International Swimming
Hall of Fame was going to their rare book room,
where I found a book called The Art of Swimming
by the great seventeenth century scientist melchesedk Thevenot, and in
Franklin's autobiography, this is the book that he used to
(01:23):
teach himself how to swim. One of the great puzzles
of history has been Benjamin Franklin, greatest research physicist and
scientist of the eighteenth century, no scientific education, no education past.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
The age of nine.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
It's been long overlooked about the influence of swimming on
Benjamin Franklin. Swimming as was presented in that book is
presented as physics as fluid dynamics.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
And then later in.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Life a kid with no science education whatsoever outside of
this book which taught him about specif gravity and Archimedes,
principles of buoyancy in flotation, positive buoyancy, negative buoyancy, and
the impact of currents. And when Benjamin Franklin becomes recognized
as the greatest research scientist of the eighteenth century for
(02:17):
his work in electricity, three terms that he coined that
we still use today are electrical current and positive and negative.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
And where did he get it from?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
He got it from swimming, his experience of swimming.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
And in the.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Introduction to that book, I read an amazing piece it's
said that in modern times, referring to sixteen ninety nine,
the greatest swimmers and divers in the world were the
Africans and Native Americans. It was for them that our
ladies owe their pearls. It's for them our merchants owe
the recovery of treasure and merchandise and anchors lost at sea.
(03:00):
So I grew up in the nineteen fifties and at
the time you didn't see many black swimmers. Most people
assumed that black people couldn't swim. Swimming was entirely segregated
in the United States. But my very first swimming meet
in the nineteen fifties was at the Christian Street YMCA,
which was formerly a colored y. So this was we
(03:23):
swam against a team that was black, and the team
that I was on, the Germantown YMCA, was part of
the Philadelphia Swim Directors Society, which was the first integrated swimming.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
League in the United States.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
So these formerly colored YMCAs, which were now just YMCA's,
competed against the white wys. So the idea that blacks
couldn't swim and that there wasn't part of a history
was something that was foreign to me. And when I
went into the Swimming Hall of Fame after reading this book,
I said, where is this history? It doesn't seem to
(03:57):
exist It was all about the evolution of competitive swimming,
which was something developed in Europe, and it was purely
a European sport and an Asian sport. The Japanese were
great swimmers as well. So one of my first missions
at the Swimming Hall of Fame was to rectify this
absence of black swimming history. So on the Internet late
(04:18):
at night, when I wasn't doing the work to raise
money and save the Hall of Fame, I started doing
some searches Negro swimming, Negro drowning. I came across a
reference to a trading card number one twenty nine, and
the only description of it was Negro swimmer toes survivors.
(04:41):
It was part of a set of World War Two
commemorative cards, a sort of patriotic version of baseball cards
printed by a company out of Philadelphia, Gum, Inc. So
it came with a as you can imagine, with a
piece of gum, and it was kind of a bonus
to buy their gum. There wasn't any on the card
or any other reference, but on eBay I found a
(05:04):
number of warp Gums cards for sale, but not number
one twenty nine. So I contacted a few sellers and
card collectors, and one was kind enough to send me
a scan of the card which showed a picture of
a black man and shark fins out in the water
and a rope tied to a raft with a whole
bunch of wounded sailors on it.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
So now I had some other keywords for my Google search.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Solomon Island's USS, Gregory French mess attendant. And from there
the story really took off. On ancestry dot com and
on newspapers dot com.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I found the.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Service records, the enlistment records, which told more about this
man named French, the Pittsburgh Courier, which was one of
the national black newspapers at the time. I mean newspapers
were segregated. Everything was segregated in the United States at
that point in time. During the First World War, Woodrow
Wilson's segregated the Navy. Black people were no longer allowed
(06:03):
to serve as officers or even sailors. They were relegated
to service as mess men's stewards and porters in the Navy.
Previous to this, starting back in the Civil War, where
twenty five percent of the Union Navy were African Americans,
and they were officers and sailors, and some of them
were heroes all the way up until the First World War,
(06:24):
when Woodrow Wilson segregated the Navy. The story first came
to light when Robert n Adrian.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
A young ensign who was on the S S.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Gregory, told a reporter from the Associated Press about how
a powerful twenty two year old negro mess attendant named
French swam through shark infested waters towing to safety a
raft loaded of wounded seamen from the USS Gregory, a
destroyer that had been sunk by Japanese naval gunfire near Guadalcanal.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
And you've been listening to Bruce Wuigo tell the story
of well a whole lot of things, first his journey
into swimming and ultimately to the Swimming Hall of Fame,
and then to a story about Charles Jackson French. When
we come back, more of this story, the story of
(07:16):
an unknown hero in World War Two Here on our
American Stories. Liabibe here host of our American Stories, where
you'll hear stories about everything from the arts to sports,
from business to history. And we're proud our show can
(07:38):
now be heard of Virginia Beach's Talk Radio ninety six
point five and eight fifty WTAAR weekdays ten pm to
one am. Our American Stories with me Lee Abibe now
on weekdays on talk Radio ninety six five and eight
fifty WTAR in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and we continue with
(08:10):
our American Stories. Let's pick up where we left off
with the story of Charles Jackson French, a twenty two
year old mess attendant who was on the US S
Gregory when it was sunk by the Japanese near Guadalcanal.
Here again is Bruce Wigo, the former CEO of the
International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Ensign Adrian was the only one on the bridge to
survive and floated over into the water as the ship
sank below him. He heard voices and found a life
raft filled with twenty four wounded men. Adrian, though superficially wounded,
was able to hang on. According to the press reports,
he knew that if they floated ashore, we'd be taken
(08:54):
as prisoners of war, and then French volunteered to swim
the raft away from shore. He stripped off his clothes
and asked for help to tie a rope around his
waist so he could toe them to safety. Adrian told
him it was impossible that he would only be giving
himself up to the sharks, and French responded that he
wasn't afraid. He was a powerful swimmer, and he swam
(09:17):
all night six to eight hours until they were eventually
rescued by a landing craft. After the story appeared in
the papers, Adrian repeated it on a national radio program
and gum printed the card, and the world began to
learn more about the heroic efforts of Charles Jackson French.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Through military records, it.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Was recognized that he was actually a twenty three year
old orphan from Foreman, Arkansas, who had moved to Omaha,
Nebraska to live with his sister, and he enlisted in
the Navy in nineteen thirty seven. The trading card described
him as a human tugboat, and he received a warm
welcome and a royal welcome from citizens of all races
in Omaha, Nebraska. After the story came out and a
(10:00):
high decoration was assured, finally it was issued. It came
in May of nineteen forty three in the form of
a letter of commendation from Admiral William Halsey, then Commander
of the Southern Fleet. The survivors felt that he deserved
a higher tribute, possibly a Congressional medal of honor, at
least the Silver Star and Navy Cross.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
And then in two thousand and nine I came across.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
A book Black Men in Blue Water, written by Chester Wright,
and in there was an interview with Charles Jackson French,
who told his story. And I'm reading from directly from
the book. So after he told her the story of
rescuing all these then he changed from laughter to what
the author had trouble discerning. It was anger, frustration, and tears.
(10:48):
On questioning him. After waiting a minute or two, French
responded in more subdued angry voice, and I'll use the
language that was directly from the book. So I'm reading
this is not my parody. When we was picked up
and the hurt ones was taken to be worked on,
we was taken to the rest camp with the others.
I heard they came up with some of that wild
(11:08):
RACI you colored boy mess. I was told you got
to go over there with them colored boys to stay.
And then some of them white boys what was on
the raft and other sailors from the Gregory's crew said
he ain't going nowhere. He's a member of the GREGORYE crew,
and he damned well will stay right here with the
rest of us. Anybody who tries to take him anywhere
(11:30):
had been ready to get a beating and be ready
to go to general quarters, meaning ready to fight with
all of us. The boy who did all the talking
was either from Alabama or Georgia, according to French. So
for near on five minutes there was a standoff us
covered with oil and grime in our hair and all
of our clothes, and dirt in our eyes, and then
(11:51):
clean Master of arms folks. We must have looked like
wild men anyway. One of them, the Master at Arms,
said them, fools mean it, Just leave him alone. We
got other folks to help them. Crackers retreated and tuck
their tails and left. The conversation with Charles Jackson French
occurred shortly after the Korean War. The author Chester White,
(12:14):
attempted to probe the cause for such intense emotion concerning
the incident that happened years before. French's shoulders shook, tears
coursed down his cheeks, and all the author could get
from him was then white boy stood up for me. French,
according to friends residing in San Diego, was claimed by alcoholism.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
From close questioning.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Of friends, it would appear that he returned from the
Pacific War stressed out from seeing too much death and destruction.
So in telling this story, I first published it on
Swimming World magazine, and I believe swim Swam the two
big internets on there. And then I get an email
from a couple who were retired Navy. One was a
(12:57):
Navy seal and one was Chief Petty Officer Kevin and
Kill McNab who read the article and they had been
wanting to do recognize war heroes that maybe were unrecognized,
and they picked up on the story and they started
doing their own research, and they came across the family
of Ensign Robert Adrian, who was the first one to
(13:17):
tell the story.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Good Night runing.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Story of fable and some Robert m a survivor of
the US destroyer Gregory something action off Canal, And there
were newspaper articles about Adrian going on NBC radio telling
the story of how this Negro seaman who's he only
knew the name was mess Man French.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
And now I'm standing here beside me in the studio
with them some Bob Adrian of ontario'bargan Adrian, yours was
certainly an unusual rescue.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Yes, it was a pretty lucky break, and I can
assure you that all the men on that rap are
grateful the message Tendant French for his brave action off glad.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Aladin certainly have the credit to the finest provisions of
the Navy.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
So the Mickness contacted the family of Robert Adrian, who
had himself over the years been doing his best to
get French recognized for what he had done. So in
the newspaper articles that I found French had been recommended
for a higher honor, the Navy Cross or the Congressional
Medal of Honor by Captain Adrian on these NBC broadcasts
(14:25):
and interviews in any event, Contacting the Mickness contacting Judy Decker,
the daughter of Captain Adrian, and other family members, found
that there was a record that was given to Captain
Adrian after his broadcast where he told the story of
French and they re enacted a dramatization of the events
that led to the sinking of the Gregory.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Realized French escaping a middle two weeks.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah we are well.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Here, say, but you can just keep right now, so
a really incredible feet of bravery.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
French described later that you know, he felt the fish
under the water, the sharks, but you know they didn't
like him.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Apparently they didn't like black meat. It's kind of French's response.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
And French also described that he'd rather be eaten by
a shark than by tortured by the Japanese.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
So this story starts to take wings.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
The Olympic Trials in twenty twenty one were held in Omaha, Nebraska,
Charles Jackson French's hometown. So reporter Steve Lewin from the
Omaha Journal Andrew Osaki from the television.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Station in Omaha picked up on this.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
And created a little mini documentaries on wk E T
and wrote about it extensively. And a guy by the
name Malcolm Nance, I guess an author, forwarded the story
on to Congressman Don Bacon of Omaha, and he picks
up the idea and says, geez, we ought to do
something about it, and came up with the idea of
naming a post office after Charles Jackson French in Omaha, Nebraska,
(16:33):
in the area where Charles Jackson French lived at the time,
and at the deadline for this, Senator Ben Sass signs.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Onto the bill, and so the bill passes.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
They're going to name the post office, but the Navy
at this point also picks up and names the rescue
training pool at the Navy base in San Diego the
Charles Jackson French Rescue Training Base, and they award of
the Navy Cross. You know, seventy five years after his
historic event, and Charles Jackson French, I have to believe,
(17:05):
is one of the most inspiring stories.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Of all.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
And a terrific job on the production and storytelling by
our own Greg Hangler and the special thanks to Bruce
Wigo for sharing the story of an unknown American war
hero now known to you and well. I love what
he says about the risk he was taking bringing his
men away from the Japanese shorelines. I'd rather be eaten
(17:30):
by a shark than tortured by the Japanese. And of
course those white boys stood up for me, Charles Jackson
French said, And of course, seventy five years later, Charles
Jackson French gets the Navy Cross, something he deserved right
from the beginning. The story of Charles Jackson French is
(17:50):
told by Bruce Wigo here on our American Stories
This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
To search for the Our American Stories podcast, go to
the iHeartRadio app, to Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts. From General George Washington to Audie Murphy, history's
(00:31):
greatest war heroes gave everything for their country and embodied
the meaning of bravery with their incredible acts of selflessness.
Bruce Wigo is here to tell a story of an
unknown American war hero. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
In two thousand and five, I was lucky enough to
be chosen to be the new president and executive director
of the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
And I'd always.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Been I've had a fascination with Benjamin Franklin, who himself
was a renowned swimmer during his lifetime. And one of
the first things that I did at the International Swimming
Hall of Fame was going to their rare book room,
where I found a book called The Art of Swimming
by the great seventeenth century scientist melchesedk Thevenot, and in
Franklin's autobiography, this is the book that he used to
(01:23):
teach himself how to swim. One of the great puzzles
of history has been Benjamin Franklin, greatest research physicist and
scientist of the eighteenth century, no scientific education, no education past.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
The age of nine.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
It's been long overlooked about the influence of swimming on
Benjamin Franklin. Swimming as was presented in that book is
presented as physics as fluid dynamics.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
And then later in.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Life a kid with no science education whatsoever outside of
this book which taught him about specif gravity and Archimedes,
principles of buoyancy in flotation, positive buoyancy, negative buoyancy, and
the impact of currents. And when Benjamin Franklin becomes recognized
as the greatest research scientist of the eighteenth century for
(02:17):
his work in electricity, three terms that he coined that
we still use today are electrical current and positive and negative.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
And where did he get it from?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
He got it from swimming, his experience of swimming.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
And in the.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Introduction to that book, I read an amazing piece it's
said that in modern times, referring to sixteen ninety nine,
the greatest swimmers and divers in the world were the
Africans and Native Americans. It was for them that our
ladies owe their pearls. It's for them our merchants owe
the recovery of treasure and merchandise and anchors lost at sea.
(03:00):
So I grew up in the nineteen fifties and at
the time you didn't see many black swimmers. Most people
assumed that black people couldn't swim. Swimming was entirely segregated
in the United States. But my very first swimming meet
in the nineteen fifties was at the Christian Street YMCA,
which was formerly a colored y. So this was we
(03:23):
swam against a team that was black, and the team
that I was on, the Germantown YMCA, was part of
the Philadelphia Swim Directors Society, which was the first integrated swimming.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
League in the United States.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
So these formerly colored YMCAs, which were now just YMCA's,
competed against the white wys. So the idea that blacks
couldn't swim and that there wasn't part of a history
was something that was foreign to me. And when I
went into the Swimming Hall of Fame after reading this book,
I said, where is this history? It doesn't seem to
(03:57):
exist It was all about the evolution of competitive swimming,
which was something developed in Europe, and it was purely
a European sport and an Asian sport. The Japanese were
great swimmers as well. So one of my first missions
at the Swimming Hall of Fame was to rectify this
absence of black swimming history. So on the Internet late
(04:18):
at night, when I wasn't doing the work to raise
money and save the Hall of Fame, I started doing
some searches Negro swimming, Negro drowning. I came across a
reference to a trading card number one twenty nine, and
the only description of it was Negro swimmer toes survivors.
(04:41):
It was part of a set of World War Two
commemorative cards, a sort of patriotic version of baseball cards
printed by a company out of Philadelphia, Gum, Inc. So
it came with a as you can imagine, with a
piece of gum, and it was kind of a bonus
to buy their gum. There wasn't any on the card
or any other reference, but on eBay I found a
(05:04):
number of warp Gums cards for sale, but not number
one twenty nine. So I contacted a few sellers and
card collectors, and one was kind enough to send me
a scan of the card which showed a picture of
a black man and shark fins out in the water
and a rope tied to a raft with a whole
bunch of wounded sailors on it.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
So now I had some other keywords for my Google search.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Solomon Island's USS, Gregory French mess attendant. And from there
the story really took off. On ancestry dot com and
on newspapers dot com.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I found the.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Service records, the enlistment records, which told more about this
man named French, the Pittsburgh Courier, which was one of
the national black newspapers at the time. I mean newspapers
were segregated. Everything was segregated in the United States at
that point in time. During the First World War, Woodrow
Wilson's segregated the Navy. Black people were no longer allowed
(06:03):
to serve as officers or even sailors. They were relegated
to service as mess men's stewards and porters in the Navy.
Previous to this, starting back in the Civil War, where
twenty five percent of the Union Navy were African Americans,
and they were officers and sailors, and some of them
were heroes all the way up until the First World War,
(06:24):
when Woodrow Wilson segregated the Navy. The story first came
to light when Robert n Adrian.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
A young ensign who was on the S S.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Gregory, told a reporter from the Associated Press about how
a powerful twenty two year old negro mess attendant named
French swam through shark infested waters towing to safety a
raft loaded of wounded seamen from the USS Gregory, a
destroyer that had been sunk by Japanese naval gunfire near Guadalcanal.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
And you've been listening to Bruce Wuigo tell the story
of well a whole lot of things, first his journey
into swimming and ultimately to the Swimming Hall of Fame,
and then to a story about Charles Jackson French. When
we come back, more of this story, the story of
(07:16):
an unknown hero in World War Two Here on our
American Stories. Liabibe here host of our American Stories, where
you'll hear stories about everything from the arts to sports,
from business to history. And we're proud our show can
(07:38):
now be heard of Virginia Beach's Talk Radio ninety six
point five and eight fifty WTAAR weekdays ten pm to
one am. Our American Stories with me Lee Abibe now
on weekdays on talk Radio ninety six five and eight
fifty WTAR in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and we continue with
(08:10):
our American Stories. Let's pick up where we left off
with the story of Charles Jackson French, a twenty two
year old mess attendant who was on the US S
Gregory when it was sunk by the Japanese near Guadalcanal.
Here again is Bruce Wigo, the former CEO of the
International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Ensign Adrian was the only one on the bridge to
survive and floated over into the water as the ship
sank below him. He heard voices and found a life
raft filled with twenty four wounded men. Adrian, though superficially wounded,
was able to hang on. According to the press reports,
he knew that if they floated ashore, we'd be taken
(08:54):
as prisoners of war, and then French volunteered to swim
the raft away from shore. He stripped off his clothes
and asked for help to tie a rope around his
waist so he could toe them to safety. Adrian told
him it was impossible that he would only be giving
himself up to the sharks, and French responded that he
wasn't afraid. He was a powerful swimmer, and he swam
(09:17):
all night six to eight hours until they were eventually
rescued by a landing craft. After the story appeared in
the papers, Adrian repeated it on a national radio program
and gum printed the card, and the world began to
learn more about the heroic efforts of Charles Jackson French.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Through military records, it.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Was recognized that he was actually a twenty three year
old orphan from Foreman, Arkansas, who had moved to Omaha,
Nebraska to live with his sister, and he enlisted in
the Navy in nineteen thirty seven. The trading card described
him as a human tugboat, and he received a warm
welcome and a royal welcome from citizens of all races
in Omaha, Nebraska. After the story came out and a
(10:00):
high decoration was assured, finally it was issued. It came
in May of nineteen forty three in the form of
a letter of commendation from Admiral William Halsey, then Commander
of the Southern Fleet. The survivors felt that he deserved
a higher tribute, possibly a Congressional medal of honor, at
least the Silver Star and Navy Cross.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
And then in two thousand and nine I came across.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
A book Black Men in Blue Water, written by Chester Wright,
and in there was an interview with Charles Jackson French,
who told his story. And I'm reading from directly from
the book. So after he told her the story of
rescuing all these then he changed from laughter to what
the author had trouble discerning. It was anger, frustration, and tears.
(10:48):
On questioning him. After waiting a minute or two, French
responded in more subdued angry voice, and I'll use the
language that was directly from the book. So I'm reading
this is not my parody. When we was picked up
and the hurt ones was taken to be worked on,
we was taken to the rest camp with the others.
I heard they came up with some of that wild
(11:08):
RACI you colored boy mess. I was told you got
to go over there with them colored boys to stay.
And then some of them white boys what was on
the raft and other sailors from the Gregory's crew said
he ain't going nowhere. He's a member of the GREGORYE crew,
and he damned well will stay right here with the
rest of us. Anybody who tries to take him anywhere
(11:30):
had been ready to get a beating and be ready
to go to general quarters, meaning ready to fight with
all of us. The boy who did all the talking
was either from Alabama or Georgia, according to French. So
for near on five minutes there was a standoff us
covered with oil and grime in our hair and all
of our clothes, and dirt in our eyes, and then
(11:51):
clean Master of arms folks. We must have looked like
wild men anyway. One of them, the Master at Arms,
said them, fools mean it, Just leave him alone. We
got other folks to help them. Crackers retreated and tuck
their tails and left. The conversation with Charles Jackson French
occurred shortly after the Korean War. The author Chester White,
(12:14):
attempted to probe the cause for such intense emotion concerning
the incident that happened years before. French's shoulders shook, tears
coursed down his cheeks, and all the author could get
from him was then white boy stood up for me. French,
according to friends residing in San Diego, was claimed by alcoholism.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
From close questioning.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Of friends, it would appear that he returned from the
Pacific War stressed out from seeing too much death and destruction.
So in telling this story, I first published it on
Swimming World magazine, and I believe swim Swam the two
big internets on there. And then I get an email
from a couple who were retired Navy. One was a
(12:57):
Navy seal and one was Chief Petty Officer Kevin and
Kill McNab who read the article and they had been
wanting to do recognize war heroes that maybe were unrecognized,
and they picked up on the story and they started
doing their own research, and they came across the family
of Ensign Robert Adrian, who was the first one to
(13:17):
tell the story.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Good Night runing.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Story of fable and some Robert m a survivor of
the US destroyer Gregory something action off Canal, And there
were newspaper articles about Adrian going on NBC radio telling
the story of how this Negro seaman who's he only
knew the name was mess Man French.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
And now I'm standing here beside me in the studio
with them some Bob Adrian of ontario'bargan Adrian, yours was
certainly an unusual rescue.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Yes, it was a pretty lucky break, and I can
assure you that all the men on that rap are
grateful the message Tendant French for his brave action off glad.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Aladin certainly have the credit to the finest provisions of
the Navy.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
So the Mickness contacted the family of Robert Adrian, who
had himself over the years been doing his best to
get French recognized for what he had done. So in
the newspaper articles that I found French had been recommended
for a higher honor, the Navy Cross or the Congressional
Medal of Honor by Captain Adrian on these NBC broadcasts
(14:25):
and interviews in any event, Contacting the Mickness contacting Judy Decker,
the daughter of Captain Adrian, and other family members, found
that there was a record that was given to Captain
Adrian after his broadcast where he told the story of
French and they re enacted a dramatization of the events
that led to the sinking of the Gregory.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Realized French escaping a middle two weeks.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah we are well.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Here, say, but you can just keep right now, so
a really incredible feet of bravery.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
French described later that you know, he felt the fish
under the water, the sharks, but you know they didn't
like him.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Apparently they didn't like black meat. It's kind of French's response.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
And French also described that he'd rather be eaten by
a shark than by tortured by the Japanese.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
So this story starts to take wings.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
The Olympic Trials in twenty twenty one were held in Omaha, Nebraska,
Charles Jackson French's hometown. So reporter Steve Lewin from the
Omaha Journal Andrew Osaki from the television.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Station in Omaha picked up on this.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
And created a little mini documentaries on wk E T
and wrote about it extensively. And a guy by the
name Malcolm Nance, I guess an author, forwarded the story
on to Congressman Don Bacon of Omaha, and he picks
up the idea and says, geez, we ought to do
something about it, and came up with the idea of
naming a post office after Charles Jackson French in Omaha, Nebraska,
(16:33):
in the area where Charles Jackson French lived at the time,
and at the deadline for this, Senator Ben Sass signs.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Onto the bill, and so the bill passes.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
They're going to name the post office, but the Navy
at this point also picks up and names the rescue
training pool at the Navy base in San Diego the
Charles Jackson French Rescue Training Base, and they award of
the Navy Cross. You know, seventy five years after his
historic event, and Charles Jackson French, I have to believe,
(17:05):
is one of the most inspiring stories.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Of all.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
And a terrific job on the production and storytelling by
our own Greg Hangler and the special thanks to Bruce
Wigo for sharing the story of an unknown American war
hero now known to you and well. I love what
he says about the risk he was taking bringing his
men away from the Japanese shorelines. I'd rather be eaten
(17:30):
by a shark than tortured by the Japanese. And of
course those white boys stood up for me, Charles Jackson
French said, And of course, seventy five years later, Charles
Jackson French gets the Navy Cross, something he deserved right
from the beginning. The story of Charles Jackson French is
(17:50):
told by Bruce Wigo here on our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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