Eugene Bullard

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Eugene Bullard was born in Columbus, Georgia, on October 9, 1895. His parents, William and Josephine, had formerly been enslaved. At the age of 11, he ran away from home, seeking a better life. This led him to stow away on the Marta Russ, a ship bound for Germany, in 1912.

Bullard spent his early youth in Scottland and England performing as a member of an Afrian American entertainment troupe that made use of popular stereotypes. A talented boxer, he traveled to France in 1913 and was impressed by French democracy, writing later that "it influenced the minds of both black and white Americans there and helped us all act like brothers."

Bullard enlisted in the French Foreign Legion in 1914, shortly after the start of World War I. He fought in the Battle of Verdun as a part of the 170th Infantry Regiment and decided to enlist in the French flying service while recuperating from a wound he sustained in battle. In November 1916, he became a part of the Aeronautique Militaire.

After completing his training at Tours, he received in wings in May 1917 and served with Excadrille Spas 93 and 85. He claimed two aerial victories and became known for flying with his pet Rhesus monkey, Jimmy. 

Racial prejudice affected Bullard's life as the world became more interconnnected. When the United States joined World War I in 1917, Bullard tried to join the U.S. Air Service but was rejected. He did not remain with the Aeronautique Militaire for the duration of the war either due to a reported confrontation with a French officer. He finished the war as a member of the 170th Infantry Regiment.

In the inerwar years, Bullard married and raised two daughters in Paris. 

On the eve of World War II, Bullard became involved in espionage against French supporters of the Nazi regime, leveraging his position as a night club entertainer in Paris's burgeoning jazz scene and his ability to speak French, German, and English. He joined the 51st Infantry Regiment in France when the war broke out, but fled to the United States, fearing capture by the Nazis. 

Back in the United States, Bullard worked as a security guard and longshoreman, living in Harlem in New York City. He became an advocate for civil rights but grew dissillusioned with progress in the United States after several violent incidents including being beaten by police at a Paul Robeson concert in Peekskill, New York in 1949.

In the 1950s, Bullard split his time between France, where he was honored for his wartime service with 14 medals and made a knight of the Legion of Honor, and the United States, where he worked odd jobs including as a translator for jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong and an an elevator operator at Rockefeller Center. He died in New York in 1961 and was buried with military honors in the French War Veterans' section of the Flushing Cemetery, in Queens.

It was not until more than thirty years later that he was posthumously commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force. He was also recognized as one of the inaugural membes of the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. In 1992, a bronze portrait of Bullard, created by Black sculptor Eddie Dixon was added to the National Air and Space Museum, donated by the McDonnell Douglas Corporation to honor his memory.