Izac, Edouard Victor Michel, 1891-1990

<p>Edouard Victor Michel Izac (December 18, 1891 – January 18, 1990) was a lieutenant in the United States Navy during World War I, a Representative from California and a Medal of Honor recipient.</p>

<p>Born in Cresco, Iowa, Izac grew up in a rural setting, graduating from United States Naval Academy in 1915. He was posted to the troop transport USS President Lincoln in 1918 when that ship was sunk by German submarine U-90. Taken as a prisoner of war, Izac gathered intelligence on the submarine and its crew before being transferred to prison camps in Germany, from where he escaped in October 1918.</p>

<p>Izac subsequently moved to San Diego and was elected as a Democrat to California's 20th congressional district, where he chaired the House Naval Affairs Committee and had oversight of Naval activities in the Pacific during World War II. Despite initially being hesitant to enter the war and remaining cautious to expanded U.S. involvement, experiences touring Nazi concentration camps in 1945 ultimately hardened his resolve. Nonetheless, he lost his bid for a sixth term in Congress in 1946. Izac spent much of the rest of his life writing and farming in the Washington D.C. area and was the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient when he died in 1990 at 98.</p>

IZAC, Edouard Victor Michel, a Representative from California; born in Cresco, Howard County, Iowa, December 18, 1891; attended the School of the Assumption, Cresco, Iowa, the high school at South St. Paul, Minn., and Werntz Preparatory School, Annapolis, Md.; was graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., in 1915; served in the United States Navy as ensign, lieutenant (jg), and senior lieutenant until forced to retire in 1921 on account of wounds received while a prisoner of war in Germany; awarded Congressional Medal of Honor, the Croce di Guerra of Italy, and the Cross of Montenegro; located in San Diego, Calif., and engaged in newspaper work and writing 1922-1928; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1934 to the Seventy-fourth Congress; delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1940 and 1944; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-fifth and to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1937-January 3, 1947); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1946 to the Eightieth Congress; interested in lumbering; raised thoroughbred cattle on a farm in Gordonsville, Va., before residing in Bethesda, Md.; was a resident of Fairfax, Va., from 1988 until his death there on January 18, 1990; interment in Arlington National Cemetery.

<p>Edouard Victor Michel Isaacs was born in Cresco, Iowa, on 18 December 1891. He attended High School at South St. Paul, Minnesota, and in May 1911 was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy from the State of Illinois. After graduating with the class of 1915, Ensign Isaacs served in the battleships Kansas and Florida. In mid-1917 he was assigned to USS President Lincoln, a former German passenger liner then fitting out as a troop transport. During that year he received temporary promotions to the ranks of Lieutenant (Junior Grade) and Lieutenant, with these becoming permanent in 1918 and 1920, respectively.</p>

<p>When the President Lincoln was torpedoed and sunk by the German Submarine U-90 on 31 May 1918, Lieutenant Isaacs was captured and taken to Germany. During this trip he gathered information on enemy submarine operations that he believed would be of great value to the Allied war effort. Determined to get this into U.S. Navy hands at the earliest opportunity, he made several fruitless attempts to escape, one while the U-90 was passing near Denmark and Sweden, one while imprisoned at Karlsruhe in early July 1918 and another shortly afterwards, when he hurled himself through the window of a moving train car while en route from Karlsruhe to a prisoner of war facility at Villingen. Injured in the latter attempt, he was quickly recaptured, badly beaten and spent nearly three weeks in solitary confinement.</p>

<p>During more than two months at Villingen, Isaacs gradually regained his strength while actively pursuing his escape intentions. With several other officers, he broke free on night of 6-7 October 1918. Accompanied by sub-lieutenant Willis, another American who had been captured while serving with the French air force, he walked a long, cautious route to the border, mainly subsisting on raw vegetables en route. Following a difficult swim across the swiftly-flowing Rhine River, both men safely reached neutral Switzerland in the early hours of 13 October. Several days later Lieutenant Isaacs arrived in Paris and from there went on to London, where he provided his German submarine information to U.S. and British Navy authorities. He then returned to the United States, arriving in Washington, D.C., on 11 November 1918, the day the Armistice brought World War I's active combat to an end.</p>

<p>In 1919 Isaacs produced a small book, "Prisoner of the U-90", recounting his experiences, which were recognized by the award of the Medal of Honor. He remained in active Navy service, mainly at the Naval Gun Factory in Washington, D.C., until retired for disability in May 1921. While making his home in San Diego, California, he changed his family name to Izac in July 1925 and pursued a career as a journalist and writer. During the later 1920s and early 1930s, he lived in Paris, France, and in January 1936 received promotion to Lieutenant Commander on the retired list. In November of that year Izac was elected to Congress from San Diego. He was a member of the House of Representatives for ten years and remained a resident of the Washington, D.C., area for the rest of his long life. Edouard V.M. Izac died in Fairfax, Virginia, on 17 January 1990.</p>