A different kind of post... Charles Jackson French 1942 comic, trading card and the recent rediscovery of one man's story and bravery. 1 1

[HistoryBuffalo]

Hi all,

This technically falls under the guise of the Golden Age section but I feel this story important enough to stick in Comics General so that more individuals can read it... hope I'm not breaking any rules by doing this.

I recently acquired a lot of four Gum Inc. war trading cards from 1942. The highlight of the group is card #129 titled "Negro Swimmer Tows Survivors"... Today the card would carry a different title but back then the world was a different place and unfortunately an act of bravery must also carry the notation of race. After further research I discovered a comic that was also published around the same time and wanted to share it here.

The comic tells of the heroic actions of Petty Officer Charles Jackson French. French was serving on board the U.S.S. Gregory during the Guadalcanal campaignin 1942. On the night of September 4-5, the U.S.S. Gregory was sunk during engagement with Japanese forces and as she slipped beneath the waves much of her surviving crew, many of whom were wounded, climbed into a life raft. The waters they were located in were shark infested and in sight of land. The land however was hostile and the raft was drifting towards it. This is when French decided to strip off his clothing and have his fellow crew tie a rope around his waist and to the raft. He lept into the water and began to swim, towing the raft out of harms way. French would end up swimming through the night for between 6-8 hours pulling his men until they were sighted and picked up by an American vessel.

After the war many, including his crew, believed that French was deserving of a much higher honor than the simple letter of commendation that he received. It is clear that the longstanding racism within America denied him further honors and recognition. When news of his heroics broke in the states and around the world he was unidentified, only known as "French" he was then immortalized first in the 1942 Gum Inc. card set and then in a newspaper comic strip. Following this he was identified and went on war bond tours through the United States and was honored in his hometown of Foreman, Arkansas. He sadly passed away at the young age of 37 in 1957 inpart due to alcoholism. It seems he was swept into the pages of history. That is until late last month when his story was rediscovered (originally unearthed in the early 2000's in part due to card #129) and shared on a broader scale through the likes of social media. It was at this time that I like many others found out about Charles Jackson French.

The purpose of my post here is to share what is an interesting comic, yes, but also to continue to share the story and the legacy of Charles Jackson French. As a student earning his degree in history and who has an interest in the Second World War as well as the modern Civil Rights Movement of the 50s and 60s I am surprised that his story had flown undetected under even my inquisitive radar and I figure by sharing this here it could help introduce him to even more people and continue in helping tell his story and see to it that he might get the recognition he deserves.

Here is a link to a more detailed telling of French's story: https://ishof.org/assets/charles-jac...ch_article.pdf

Jake

 

Edited June 5, 2021 by SkoBuffs99

[shadroch]

[Cat]

Haven't had a chance to read the PDF yet, but were there actually sharks circling them, or were they added to the comic and card for dramatic effect? 

[HistoryBuffalo]

5 hours ago, Mecha_Fantastic said:

Haven't had a chance to read the PDF yet, but were there actually sharks circling them, or were they added to the comic and card for dramatic effect? 

According to the commendation and story there were indeed sharks nearby in the water. After being interviewed in the 50s French himself commented on there being sharks as well.

[Cat]

Geez, just the absolute bravery of that man. Thanks @SkoBuffs99. What an absolute hero, swimming through debris and sharks (probably mostly oceanic whitetips, the sharks with the world's biggest killcount) for so long, to finally make it to safety. And what does get after that? A mere commendation letter. What BS.

It's obviously far too late now to make it right for this poor man, but does he have living relatives? If so, IMO, he should be posthumously awarded a bravery medal (I don't know what kinds would be available, but surely there's something) and attach it to his file, plus have something tangible to give to his family, to pass on along with with his wondrous story of man beating the odds with outrageous deeds that are way above what we 'should' be capable of. 

[justafan]

49 minutes ago, Mecha_Fantastic said:

Geez, just the absolute bravery of that man. Thanks @SkoBuffs99. What an absolute hero, swimming through debris and sharks (probably mostly oceanic whitetips, the sharks with the world's biggest killcount) for so long, to finally make it to safety. And what does get after that? A mere commendation letter. What BS.

It's obviously far too late now to make it right for this poor man, but does he have living relatives? If so, IMO, he should be posthumously awarded a bravery medal (I don't know what kinds would be available, but surely there's something) and attach it to his file, plus have something tangible to give to his family, to pass on along with with his wondrous story of man beating the odds with outrageous deeds that are way above what we 'should' be capable of. 

Medal of Honor: If taken by the 1963 updates to the requirements:

Public Law 88–77, July 25, 1963: The requirements for the Medal of Honor were standardized among all the services, requiring that a recipient had "distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty."

let's see:

• rescued wounded sailors
• saved no less than 15 shipmates from a dangerous shore landing at great risk to his own life
• swam in shark infested waters
• swam and guided his crew's raft for 6 hours to safety

Yep, I do believe his actions and deeds meet the requirements for the Navy's highest honor: Navy Congressional Medal of Honor.  Was he ever awarded this posthumously? Nope.  At least not yet, but apparently this has caught some steam over the last 2 months and there is actually a petition.

"A Change.org petition also was started Monday, urging Congress and President Joe Biden to posthumously award French the Medal of Honor." Thanks @SkoBuffs99 for the post and history.

 

[Qalyar]

On 6/5/2021 at 3:36 PM, SkoBuffs99 said:

 

Any idea if this actually made it into one of the issues of True Comics itself, or if this was just a newspaper strip or the like?

[HistoryBuffalo]

6 minutes ago, Qalyar said:

Any idea if this actually made it into one of the issues of True Comics itself, or if this was just a newspaper strip or the like?

From what I've read it was a newspaper strip;

"a contemporaneous account as presented in a January 10, 1943 comic strip where, in a rarity for the times, a Sunday page syndicated to white newspapers featured a Black Man as a hero (and identified as “Negro” in the opening title panel)"

https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2021/04/27/navy-may-recognize-black-wwii-sailor/

Edited June 9, 2021 by SkoBuffs99