> Regardless, the guy was a real hero. <
Absolutely. Black, white, whatever. That’s all a distasteful distraction. French wasn’t some admiral with gold braid on his cap, or some famous politician. He was a true, genuine war hero. From Wikipedia:
“After French’s ship, the High-speed transport USS Gregory (APD-3), was sunk by gunfire from Imperial Japanese Navy ships in the Solomon Islands on the morning of September 5, 1942, he swam six to eight hours in shark-infested waters near Guadalcanal while towing a life raft with fifteen survivors aboard out of the range of Japanese gunfire and possible capture, which likely would have meant execution.”
Roger that!