Mar 21, 2013 - Sale 2308

Sale 2308 - Lot 442

Price Realized: $ 540
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 600 - $ 800
(MILITARY--WORLD WAR II.) FRENCH, CHARLES JACKSON. Charles Jackson French of the U.S. Navy towed a raft full of his shipwrecked mates to safety. . . Small wartime calendar mounted on a large pictorial board 16-1/4 x 10-1/4 inches showing French swimming, the raft in tow; small archival tape repair to reverse. Np, 1944
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There were probably many more acts of "courage above and beyond the call of duty," performed by black servicemen, but the two that received any public recognition at the time were that of Dorie Miller and Charles Jackson French---and only then because of the African American press. Charles Jackson French, a 22 year mess assistant was on the destroyer "Gregory" off the coast of Guadalcanal in October of 1942 when it was struck and sunk by Japanese naval gunfire. 24 survivors, including French had managed to get into a large life-raft. However, the danger now was if the raft were to float ashore, they would all surely be taken prisoner or killed by the Japanese. French volunteered to get in the shark infested waters and towed the raft for 6 to 8 hours until another U.S. naval vessel picked the men up.