OMAHA, Neb. -- Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer is introducing legislation to honor a World War II (WWII) hero. 

Fischer and Congressman Don Bacon want to name a post office in Omaha after Charles Jackson French. 

French lived in Omaha for a big portion of his life. He was a Navy mess attendant on the USS Gregory during WWII. 

In September 1942, when the Gregory was hit by Japanese naval gunfire, he helped 15 of his crew mates into a life raft and tied a rope around his wait, swimming for nearly eight hours through shark infested waters in order to avoid being captured by the Japanese. 

The men were later identified and rescued. The survivors of the Gregory felt French deserved a much higher tribute, but he died without such recognition.