“Just tell me if I’m going the right way.” Charles Jackson French called the words out to a raft of 15 injured sailors as he tied a rope around his waist and began to swim. He did so for nearly eight hours‚ swimming his way through shark-infested waters and into U.S. Navy history. On January 10‚ Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced that the sea service will name a new Arleigh Burke-class destroyer after French in honor of his heroic actions that day during the September 1942 naval battle near Guadalcanal. French‚ a Black cook who had previously completed a four-year enlistment in the Navy‚ reenlisted just days after the Dec. 7‚ 1941 attack at Pearl Harbor. By Sept. 4‚ 1942‚ French found himself aboard the destroyer-turned-transport ship USS Gregory as it returned from delivering a Marine Raider battalion to Savo Island. As Gregory and her sister ship USS Little patrolled the area between Savo Island and Guadalcanal‚ “three Japanese destroyers — YÅ«dachi‚ Hatsuyuki and Murakumo — came into the Slot undetected to bombard American positions ashore‚” according to Naval History and Heritage Command. Gunfire erupted‚ with flashes lighting up the night sky in the early morning hours of Sept. 5. From the sky‚ a patrolling Navy pilot believing the flashes to be coming from Japanese submarines dropped a line of five flares in the water. Gregory and Little were suddenly illuminated‚ silhouetting as easy targets for Japanese destroyers. With the destroyers previously stripped of virtually all their armament to make room for boats‚ the outgunned Gregory lasted just three minutes before her boilers burst and calls to abandon ship rang out. Mess Attendant 1st Class French was among the very few left uninjured by the ship’s conflagrations. Despite standing at just 5′8 and 195 pounds‚ French was a strong swimmer and calmly swam around the sinking ship gathering his injured comrades. Ensign Robert Adrian‚ who gradually came to after suffering injuries to his legs and blast fragments in his eyes‚ attempted to persuade French to join them aboard the raft and out of the shark-infested waters‚ Adrian later recalled. French refused‚ responding that he was more afraid of the Japanese than the sharks. Against a strong current‚ French swam all night — away from enemy gunfire and the Japanese-held shoreline. In eight hours he managed to rescue all but 11 members of Gregory’s crew‚ according to Naval History and Heritage Command. At sunrise‚ French and the raft of sailors were spotted by scout aircraft. For his actions‚ French was recommended for the Navy Cross. However‚ likely due to his race‚ the cook only received a letter of commendation from Adm. William “Bull” Halsey‚ the commander of the Southern Pacific Fleet. In the letter‚ Halsey mistakenly credited French with swimming continuously for only two hours. Initially‚ French’s story was covered widely‚ particularly in Black newspapers in the U.S. He was dubbed the “Human Tugboat” and was featured in one comic book iteration. Adrian‚ meanwhile‚ appeared on a national radio show to tell French’s story after becoming outraged over the minimal accolades garnered by the sailor’s heroics. After the war‚ however‚ French’s story was largely forgotten. He died in 1956 of alcoholism‚ a condition historians say was likely brought on due to undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder. In May 2022‚ Del Toro sought to correct the record and posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to French. That year the training pool for rescue swimmers at Naval Base San Diego was named after him. French is now getting some “long-overdue recognition‚” Del Toro said on Wednesday during the Surface Navy Association’s 36th National Symposium. “French gathered 15 shipmates onto a raft and‚ fearing they would drift to a Japanese-controlled island‚ towed the raft himself to a different island‚” Del Toro continued. “He swam for hours‚ pulling 15 souls from the jaws of the sea‚ defying the odds and the sharks with nothing but his own grit and compassion.”

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Texas Military Department Disputes Rep. Cuellar's Claim that Troops let Illegal Immigrants Drown

There once was a time when living into your 100s seemed like a pretty rare possibility – but if you happen to live in the US‚ you might be interested to know that your chances are on the up. Projections from the US Census Bureau (USCB) suggest that the number of American centenarians is set to quadruple over the next 30 years.The population of the US currently sits just under 336 million. Of those people‚ it’s estimated that 101‚000 are aged 100 or over‚ representing only 0.03 percent of the population. However‚ the USCB has estimated that the proportion will stand at 0.1 percent in 2054. That might still look like a tiny percentage‚ but that’s over 300‚000 more centenarians kicking about – you’d need an extra three Michigan Stadiums to fit all those people together.Although it’s still something of a sharp rise‚ this figure isn’t entirely unexpected; the number of people aged 100 or over in the US has been steadily increasing since the 1950s. Back then‚ it was thought there were only 2‚300 American centenarians. It’s a group that’s already increased nearly 44 times over in less than 100 years. IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.Within that increasingly common group‚ there’s another trend that’s also projected to continue‚ albeit with some declines: they're mostly women and mostly white. At present‚ 78 percent of centenarians in the US are women and 77 percent are white; in 2054‚ this is estimated to go down to 68 and 72 percent‚ respectively.The US is currently home to the second largest population of centenarians. The top spot belongs to Japan‚ where it’s 146‚000. It’s reflective of a wider global trend of population aging‚ with the worldwide number of centenarians projected to increase to nearly 4 million by 2054. The largest group is estimated to be in China‚ where it’s thought six out of every 10‚000 people will be aged 100 or older.What are the potential consequences of an aging population? It’s hard to say for certain; research is based on projection models and educated guesses‚ but it could put pressure on healthcare systems and economies. That being said‚ some older people can be just as healthy as those decades younger than them.Whilst there might be a higher proportion of older people‚ the population worldwide has been projected to fall to just 6 billion by the end of the century – and in the US‚ to the point where there could even be thousands of ghost cities.

We’ve still yet to see the highly-rumored GeForce RTX 4050 budget gaming GPU‚ but in the meantime‚ Nvidia is apparently bringing out a super cheap GPU that has “avoid” written all over it. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 6GB specs have just been leaked‚ showing a cut-down GPU based on last-gen tech that will struggle to play many of the latest games at decent settings. Continue reading Nvidia budget GPU specs leak‚ and they’re even worse than you expect MORE FROM PCGAMESN: GeForce RTX 4060 review‚ DLSS explained‚ Best graphics cards

With its up to 250Hz mini LED display‚ Intel Core i9-14900HX CPU‚ and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card‚ the Acer Predator Helio 18 is a powerhouse of a gaming laptop‚ and we recently got hands-on with it to see how it shapes up. This best gaming laptop contender from Acer was on show at the CES 2024 trade show in Las Vegas where we also saw many other upcoming gaming laptops‚ as well as the latest gaming monitors‚ mice‚ keyboards‚ cases‚ and more. See our CES story hub for more from the show or read on for more on the Helios 18. Continue reading Acer Predator Helios 18 preview – hands on at CES 2024 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best gaming monitor

A recent Resident Evil Revelations update has been alleged to contain DRM (digital rights management) software that is causing performance problems and blocking the use of mods in the survival horror game. While RE creator Capcom has previously said that it considers the use of unofficial mods similar or equivalent to cheating‚ and has also issued a statement regarding the latest Resident Evil Revelations update‚ one prominent modder for the zombie series says that recent claims regarding DRM are “nonsense.” It follows after the Steam store page for RE Revelations has been review bombed by players‚ dropping the game’s rating‚ based on recent feedback‚ to ‘overwhelmingly negative.’ Continue reading Resident Evil modder says Capcom DRM allegations are “nonsense” MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best horror games‚ Best survival games‚ Best old games

Is Palworld free? The gun-toting monster collector inside of us should be salivating at the thought of Palworld. If you've been looking for something similar to Pokemon on PC‚ Pocket Pair's new offering looks to present a fresh take on the genre‚ with its strange‚ dark‚ sweat-shop-adjacent themes‚ and some kind of overarching poacher story. It’s all terribly intriguing‚ and we can’t wait to sink our teeth into it‚ but is Palworld free? The Palworld release date is right around the corner‚ at least where early access is concerned‚ and we already know that you’ll be able to play Palworld on Game Pass‚ but how much‚ if anything‚ will Palworld cost if you want to buy it outright? Here is whether Palworld is free. Continue reading Is Palworld free? MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Palworld pals‚ Palworld starter‚ Palworld system requirements

‘Republicans have lost the last seven out of eight popular votes for president. That is nothing to be proud of.’